


Three Into Four

by thegirlsinthefirehouse



Category: Ghostbusters (2016)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-02
Updated: 2019-01-02
Packaged: 2019-10-02 17:14:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 22,925
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17268149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thegirlsinthefirehouse/pseuds/thegirlsinthefirehouse
Summary: Erin gets an interesting proposition. There may or may not be a glowing Scooby Doo involved. Polybusters (Patty/Holtzmann/Abby & Patty/Holtzmann/Abby/Erin)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Kate and Nerd for being idea bouncer off-ers. :)

\----- **  
** **  
** The lights around the city honoring them had been a sight to behold. Abby, Erin, and Holtz had been glad that Patty had come down and gotten them so they could enjoy it together. But when Erin went back downstairs to go to the bathroom after they had all taken pictures of the lights of the city dedicated to them, Holtz grabbed Patty and whispered in her ear. Patty’s eyes went wide and they quickly cornered Abby before she could make a hasty retreat downstairs.

“You never did talk to Erin yesterday, did you?” asked Patty, putting her hands on her hips. “Abby... we discussed this. We need to get this done so we’d know.”

“It might have... not come up yet,” said Abby. She looked sheepish. “Things were just starting to get better! I don’t want her running off again because of things being said.”

“But she thinks she’s dating  _Kevin_ ?” said Holtz, putting her hands on her hips. “Seriously?!?! Just when I thought I could make the best Polybusters joke _ever_.”

“Well, she did take him to minigolf,” pointed out Abby.

“As a reward from all of us for actually not fucking up for a whole day!” said Patty, exasperated. “Now how are we going to get Erin on board? It’s been like... months now.”

“Convince her that to save Abby’s life, she needs constant mouth to mouth resuscitation?” said Holtzmann, thinking, squinting one eye. “Actually... I’d pay to see that. Daily. On an hourly basis. I’ll even sign up for automatic Paypal deductions if I have to.”

“Holtz,” said Abby, rolling her eyes.

“You can’t say that you wouldn’t pay for it either.”

“Why pay when she can get it for free, baby,” said Patty, grinning. She leaned her head to the side in thought. “So do you think Erin would not be interested?”

“Erin’s back so deep in the closet she probably found Lincoln’s nightshirt,” said Abby. “If we can’t even begin to get Erin to admit to liking one of us, how are we going to get her to commit to all  _three_?”

“You know, we could still play the old girlfriend card,” said Holtzmann, adjusting the collar of Abby’s striped shirt.

“I can’t believe you just made that reference,” said Patty. “History is _my_ thing, Abby.”

“And you read our physics journals,” Abby said. “Got to do something to keep up with you.” Patty chuckled and hugged her girlfriend. Holtz wrapped her arms around both of them.

“So how _are_ we going to get Erin into this cuddle party?”

Abby sighed. “Maybe you’re right. I’ve been trying to give her space, but...”

“She jumped into a damn portal to save your ass from the other side,” said Patty. “It had to have meant _something_.”

Abby grimaced at that but said nothing in response.

\-----

The next day had been a little on the warm side, so Abby had suggested going out for ice cream to the group. Patty all the sudden made herself scarce and Holtzmann said she had an idea for upgrading the PKE meters she had made for everyone.

So they were all going to abandon her to do this on her own. _Great._

Abby and Erin chatted amicably about things as they walked towards Cold Stone Creamery. Erin was all too happy to try something new at the ice cream place. They sat down after getting their treats. Abby had gotten black cherry cheesecake and Erin had pistachio blueberry. They both had splurged on extra whipped cream and Erin had laughed when Abby got some on her cheek. She wiped at it with her finger before using a napkin. Abby felt warm at the touch. Since the whole thing with Rowan, Erin had been a lot closer and open to her. She had missed her friend over the years. Immensely.

“Erin...” she began.

“Yes, Abby?”

“Are you really dating  _Kevin?_ ”

Erin sighed.

“I don’t know why I said that the other day to Doctor Gorin. Kevin’s sweet, but...”

“Did you get flustered because of Holtzmann?”

“I-- maybe,” said Erin. “She just... it’s her, you know.” Erin went quiet. “I haven’t thought about girls like that since I was in my Master's program. I...”

“I get it,” interrupted Abby, spooning up some of her ice cream. “Holtz has that effect on people.”

“How can you deal with it?” asked Erin. “I mean...”

“You get used to her,” laughed Abby. “She will always be that way. Even Patty’s gotten used to Holtz’s advances.”

“Well, yeah, but Patty’s queer too,” said Erin. Abby frowned.

“Erin... that’s not the reason. Patty just knows Holtz is flirting because it’s part of her personality.”

Erin sighed and put her spoon down in her cup, scratching the back of her neck.

“Can I ask you something?”

“You know you can,” said Abby.

“Do you still--” she turned her head to look out the window. “I mean--” Abby knew where this was going before Erin even got the last part out of her mouth.

“Do I still hold a thing for you?” Abby asked. Erin nodded slightly, frowning.

 _Well, if that didn’t play right into Holtz’s thinking..._  Abby thought as she played with a piece of the graham cracker crust in her ice cream.  
  
“Before I answer, I need to know if this is going to affect our friendship. Because if it does, I’m not answering you.”

“It won’t,” said Erin. “Because... I miss you.”

Abby had to admit, she was a bit startled by that.

“Erin?”

Erin’s voice was small as she started to respond. “I miss... us. I thought it was stupid and juvenile back then in college when everything happened. But now... I wasn’t going to leave you twice Abby.”

Abby for once couldn’t find words. “Oh Erin...” she said softly. “I miss you too.”

Erin looked surprised. Abby laughed before giving her a big smile.

“Don’t you think I missed you too all these years, you big dummy.”

The redheaded physicist laughed.

“Only you can get away with that, you know.”

“Good,” said Abby. She grabbed Erin’s hand, who smiled at the gesture.

\-----

Erin seemed in an even better mood when they left the ice cream place and headed back to the firehouse. Once they got close, Erin grabbed Abby’s hand.

“This is for you, Abby. For all the time we missed.” Abby soon found herself being pushed against the wall of the building and kissed. Erin was very forceful and Abby moaned into the kiss. It was nothing like the gentle and sweet kisses they had shared freshman year at college when they were just starting their relationship. Erin had a need it seemed.

And Abby was weak. She was so weak against her best friend. She let Erin trail kisses down her neck in the shadows of the building.

“Let’s go inside,” Abby said quickly to break up the moment. _And before I let this get us both into an even bigger mess._

But once the door had shut behind them, Erin had gone back to kissing Abby again, rendering Abby into a puddle of want and need for Erin. The particle physicist took Abby’s hand after a few minutes and headed up the three flights of stairs. It didn’t take long for Abby to slip in with Erin over to her quarters there at the firehouse. It had been over ten years, but it was like they were college kids all over again. There were giggles and laughs and fumbling and nervous apologizes, followed by breathy moans and gasps.

And a _lot_ more kisses.

When all was said and done, Abby stared at the ceiling. Erin was lying all cuddled up beside her in bed naked and looking beautiful in the pale moonlight streaming in the windows there on the third floor.

 _Well, I screwed that up,_ thought Abby. But she couldn’t even be mad at herself, because the feeling of Erin’s mouth on her labia had left a delightful throbbing sensation in her lower extremities and had filled a void in her heart.

But Holtzmann and Patty were going to kill her, probably. She wasn’t going to think about it till in the morning. She kissed the top of Erin’s head and went to sleep.

\-----

Bouncing on the bed made Abby groan the next morning.\

“Stop it, Holtz.”

“I don’t think I’m the one who needs stopping,” said the blonde engineer, flopping down. “I wasn’t the one making the most noise in the building last night.”

“Oh god,” said Abby, burying her head under the blankets.

“You were quite loud,” mused Holtz as she laid down next to Abby. She propped her face upon her hand. “But then, I probably would be too if I had hooked up again with my first love. I must say, well done Abby.”

“Hush,” said Abby, peeking back out. “Does Patty know?”

“She was sound asleep beside me all night,” said Holtz. “And she was in the shower when I spied Erin walk back to her room from yours only partially clothed. She didn’t know I was behind the couch looking for my favorite torque wrench.”

“You’re not mad are you?”

“Well, you did break our trust technically, but Erin  _is_ our ‘If we had to pick another girl’ card. Any of us would have done it. You just got the privilege of introducing her back into the less hetero, more homo lifestyle again. _And_ loudly.”

“She was already thinking about it,” said Abby. She sighed.

“She was so trusting and enthusiastic about it and she kissed me...”

Holtzmann’s eyebrows nearly went into her hairline.

“So _Erin_ made the first move?”

Abby nodded, shifting the covers as she turned over to look at her girlfriend. Holtz wouldn’t stop grinning.

“I know,” said Abby. “I was a bit helpless.”

“Poor defenseless Abby,” cooed Holtz, tweaking her cheek. “You could have said no.”

“You know Erin. She needed the validation.”

“And you wanted an orgasm. And the love of your former best friend.”

Abby looked crabby at her girlfriend. “You can shut up at any time Holtzmann.”

“Nope. Can’t,” she said breezily. “I’m not allowed to be. Patty says I’m less scary when I’m talking too much. I can’t creep around, like a cat. Or a ninja. Or a cat ninja. Can we adopt a cat ninja?”

Abby started looking for her glasses, which she noticed on top of Holtzmann’s head. She took them back and put them on, ignoring Holtz’s question about the cat.

“I need a shower before I face Patty.”

“But first,” said Holtzmann. “I’m reclaiming what’s mine from Erin. She can’t have those lips to herself.” She leaned down and kissed Abby, her lips and hands pressing her lover down into the mattress.

\-----

Holtzmann ran down the stairs because she could and found Erin having a cup of coffee on the ground floor.

“Did you find Abby?” asked the physicist.

“Shower,” she responded. “I’ll ask her in a little bit.”

Erin nodded, a little smile on her face.

“Ooh, Gilbert. You look happy.”

“Do I?” she said. Her lips quirked a little. “I had a good time last night.”

“Aww, you and Abby had fun out and about on the town,” said Holtz. “Good for you.”

“Yeah, we talked,” Erin responded. “Had ice cream. Just a little girl time.”

“Like all the time around us isn’t girl time?” said Holtz huskily. She leaned into Erin. “I don’t know how to tell you this, but four out of the five people who work here are girls.”

“I know that,” said Erin, rolling her eyes.

“Just checkin’,” Holtzmann grinned.

“Are you really always like this?” asked Erin suddenly, her face straightening up and looking serious. “The flirting, the...”

“Being all up in your grill with my sapphic nature?”

“Yes... that.”

“Don’t know how to turn it off,” said Holtz with a shrug.

Erin seemed to consider that for a moment. She reached out and grabbed Holtzmann’s hand, much to the blonde’s surprise.

“Never change Holtz.”

“I try not to. I’ve been wearing the same socks for two weeks now.” Holtzmann cackled loudly when Erin scrunched up her nose.

“You’re cute Gilbert,” said Holtz. She winked at the woman, who seemed to be turning a small shade of red at the compliment. Interesting. She walked off as Abby came down the stairs, her still wet hair being tied up in a ponytail.

“About time you joined us,” she said to her girlfriend. Abby scoffed and headed for the fresh coffee. Holtz turned and observed Erin’s eyes light up a bit.

 _Oh, she’s got it bad_ , thought Holtz. There was no way Patty wouldn’t know something wasn’t going on. Erin grabbed Abby by the arm and lead her over to one of the tables where she had been working on something. She wouldn’t have figured Erin for being such an aggressive top. She pondered this for a moment as she headed up to her lab. Inside, Patty was sitting at one of her work tables, texting someone.

“We have a rapidly developing situation going on in our little family,” said Holtz. She flung herself down on her stool, grabbed one of her small wrenches and started twisting it in her hair.

“Did you light Kevin on fire again?”

“No, but Abby cheated on us last night.”

Patty lowered her phone, her forehead scrunching up at the news.

“With who?”

“A very assertive Erin, apparently.”

“Damn, _that_ quick? I thought it’d take like months of them two dancing around each other before we pushed them into the bedroom together and locked the door.”

“According to Abby, Erin was already thinking about it. Probably since their explosive breakup.”

“Can I just say that I’m glad neither one of us has any of that baggage?”

“No, but you need to act surprised when Abby comes to tell you about Erin. And very disapproving.”

“So you want me to tar and feather her? Holtzy...”

“Good cop, bad cop Patty. You would kill in the bad cop role.”

“We knew this would happen. Since Day 1 when we agreed to this whole poly relationship. We all concurred Erin could join us because we knew how much it meant to Abby.”

“I know,” said Holtzmann. She grinned wickedly. “Erin’s been in a relationship with all of us and just hadn’t realized it yet.”

Patty reached for Holtz’s usual can of Pringles that was sitting on one of her work tables. “At least we’re one step closer. Erin’s peeked out of the closet.”

“More like she came running out of it,” said Holtz. “You didn’t hear them last night.” Patty shook her head, munching on some chips.

“Man, I was glad I was dead to the world,” she said as Holtz grabbed a chip from the can. “You two on the rare occasion when we’re all together are bad enough.”

\-----

That evening when Erin had gone to get a few things she needed from the nearby drugstore when Abby finally had worked up the courage to discuss things over with Patty. She found her on the couch upstairs in their living quarters, flipping channels on the TV.  
  
“Patty--” began Abby, but the stomping of feet on the stairs made her stop. It didn’t take but just two seconds for Holtzmann to slide her way into the room and flop down backward on the couch beside Patty, laying her head on her lap.

“Sorry, I needed to be here for this.” She pushed up her goggles and put her hands behind her head.

“I hope you didn’t leave anything running,” said Abby, looking at Holtzmann.

“Nope, we’re good.” She crossed her legs and looked expectantly at Abby. “Patty, I think Abby wants to tell you something.”

“I can see that,” said Patty. “Did you make a breakthrough with Erin?”

“I’m surprised there’s not a broken bed,” smirked Holtzmann.

“Holtz,” sighed Abby, pinching the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes.

“Oh, so it was that sort of breakthrough,” grinned Patty. “Gimme some skin!” She held a hand up to Abby, who looked confused for a second before giving her a high-five.

“So you’re not mad?” said Abby.

“Why would I be?” shrugged Patty. “You love Erin. Don’t even pretend we haven’t seen the heart eyes, Abby.”

“Well, it was a breakthrough,” said Abby. “She sort of was like a dam bursting.”

“Not surprised,” Patty said with a nod. “All that pent up energy from being uptight.”

“I love her, I really do.” Patty took Abby’s hand and smiled.

“We know you do baby, we know you do.”

“Now all we have to do is get her in our little group,” said Holtz. “Then we can have a big love fest.”

Patty poked Holtz’s shoulder. “You just want to get Erin in bed.”

“Can you blame me?” grinned Holtzmann. “I need to know what makes her tick. She’s my last one, then I can die happy.”

“No dying today,” said Abby. “Please.”

“Hey guys!” said a voice up the stairs. “I just got a message off the answering machine! There’s a group of ghosts bothering Shakespeare in the Park!”

“Guess Abby gets to be saved by a work-related yell from having to explain how she’s going to bring Erin around to us,” said Holtz. She headed for the firepole and slid down.

“Erin’s yell at that,” mused Patty, glancing at Abby. They headed for the stairs.

\-----

Abby laid her head against Erin’s shoulder in the Ecto-1. The traps were still smoking in the back, and Patty was having nothing to do with the smell, so Abby had traded spots with her for the ride home. Erin smiled down at her.

“Tired?”

“A little,” admitted Abby. She kind of wanted to pull Erin into her arms and cuddle with her, but she figured that would be too much for her friend at the moment. Granted, it was just Holtz and Patty, but she didn’t know how Erin was going to feel about them finding out “officially.”

“Erin...” she said softly. “Do you want to stay with me tonight?”

Erin’s eyes darted forward to the front. Abby took hold of Erin’s hand.

“They’re not going to care in the way you’re thinking Erin.”

“I know that,” she said a little bit on the loud side. “I just wonder what they’re going to think of me if I steal their girlfriend away for another night.”

The loud squeak that came from Abby’s mouth wasn’t human as she fell into Erin’s lap in surprise. Holtzmann looked in the rearview mirror, her eyes wide. Patty’s mouth was hanging open at first, but then she started laughing. She pointed at Erin.

“I always knew you were smarter than that.” She looked down at Abby. Erin was stroking the back of her head.

“Has she died of embarrassment yet?” asked Holtzmann. “Because that would be handy for some experiments I’d like to try.”

“No,” Abby said muffled. She knew she couldn’t look Erin in the face. So she’d just stay planted with her nose and lips basically between Erin’s legs with her forehead resting on her thigh. Her best friend already knew she had two girlfriends, and she was still willing to sleep with her. How  _horrible_ did that make herself sound? She had two girlfriends and was wanting to pick up a third. Granted the third was someone she had loved dearly with all her heart since they were teenagers. Abby decided she was going to stay buried in Erin’s lap while her best friend kept stroking her hair. When the car had stopped in the firehouse garage, Abby still hadn’t moved.

“I need to get out of the car Abby,” said Erin softly. They both listened quietly as Holtz taking out the packs. Abby heard the door open on her side.

“Come on, sweetie. You can’t stay there forever,” said Patty. Abby felt the nudges from her girlfriend.

“Alright, I’m up, I’m up,” she said with a sigh. The physicist sat up as Erin got out of the car. Patty smoothed Abby’s reddened cheek.

“I’m going to go make some tea. You work on getting unembarrassed.”

“I know, there’s nothing to be embarrassed about,” said Abby, grimacing.

“Mmhmm,” said Patty, squeezing her shoulder. Abby got out of the Ecto-1, feeling like she had walked into a live action version of _A Midsummer Night’s Dream_ instead of away from one being plagued by ghosts. She went over and stashed her jumpsuit. Holtz came up beside her.

“Go talk to her. Don’t worry.”

Abby looked over to where Erin was checking her phone on the client couch. She picked up her Chucks and headed over to her best friend after putting them on. Abby sat down on the couch beside her and started to tie them.

“Erin...”

“I didn’t think I could do it,” said Erin. She looked down at the floor.

Abby didn’t say anything for a moment, instead finished tying her shoes.

“Do what exactly?” she asked, straightening up.

“Talk to them... about you.” Erin laughed. “If I had known I would embarrass you, Abby, I would have waited.”

“It’s not that,” said Abby. “I wasn’t expecting you to be so forward and... how bad it made me look.”

“Bad?”

“That I have two girlfriends already and I slept with... with you.”

“Yes, I’m sure all the kids in high school wouldn’t have picked you for being in a polyamorous relationship.”

“I’d like to have seen that picture in the yearbook.”

Erin shook her head with a soft laugh.

“I can’t believe you guys thought I was _that_ clueless.”

“Well...” began Abby. Erin held up a hand.

“Abby, I’m not that dumb. I knew you and Holtzmann had a thing going on. It was obvious the minute I stepped into the Aldridge Mansion with you two. She was _so_ protective of you. I was a little jealous, actually. No one’s ever been that protective of me, except you.”

“Erin...” began Abby. Erin shook her head to interrupt her.

“But then when Patty starting getting close to all of us, Holtz was so touchy-feely. You can tell she loves Patty.”

“She does,” smiled Abby.

“And you enjoy her company,” said Erin.

“She is a great asset to all of us.”

“You love her Abby.”

Abby sighed and rubbed the back of her head.

“I’m not embarrassed.”

“I know.”

“I sort of hate myself for last night,” said Abby. “I’ve missed you.”

Erin grimaced at that and lowered her head. “You hate yourself?” Abby grabbed her chin and raised it back up.

“Don’t you dare Erin Gilbert. There’s nothing you did wrong. I’m the one who was wrong.”

Erin sighed deeply. “Maybe we shouldn’t have jumped into things.”

Abby sighed. “Erin... Do you like us?”

“What-- what exactly do you mean?”

“I know you miss me, but I love them. And you. I love you and miss you, Erin. Would... Would you want to join us?”

Erin’s mind reeled at the thought.

“All of you?”

Abby nodded, her eyes hopeful. Erin wanted to fall into them. She loved her best friend, but having _three_ girlfriends?

_Well from no one to three..._

“Can I think about it?” asked Erin. “I’m not sure... this is a lot to take in all at once.”

“Of course,” said Abby. “No pressure.”

Erin wondered about that for a moment, realizing that they all worked and lived together. _How would there not be pressure?_

\-----

Things went back to normal. At least, what was normal for the Ghostbusters. Abby and Erin were working on a hypothesis at how ghosts were breaching the barrier. Holtz had almost put her foot down at building a mini containment unit, but then she realized they were wanting to simulate a virtual barrier and she almost started vibrating at the thought. She then shooed them out of the lab so she could start brainstorming.

“You know, protect the barrier would be a good slogan for the ozone layer groups,” said Erin, thinking as they had gotten back to the first floor.

“We need to copyright it first,” said Abby as she started walking back towards her desk. “So we can get the profits for our own work.”

“Good thinking,” said Erin. She bit her lip.

“Something the matter?” asked Abby. She looked around, gently nudging Abby away from the stairwell. It didn’t take long till for her to get the message. Abby kissed Erin, making her moan into it, her body rubbing against her best friend’s. Abby’s hands were in Erin’s hair and they were kissing longingly. Abby peppered kisses all along Erin’s jawline before returning back to her lips.

“I’ve missed this,” whimpered Erin. She wanted to pull down Abby’s bun and play in her hair. “Could we--?”

“Is there an empty closet here on the first floor?” said Abby weakly, trying to think.

“But perfectly good beds?” Erin said. She kissed Abby again, making the both of them moan.

“Stairs,” said Abby, like it was obvious.

“Don’t care,” said Erin.

“You’re the one who was backing me away from the stairwell.”

“I don’t want to get you in trouble,” said Erin. “I know I’m the exception, but Abby...”

“I know, it’s complicated,” she said in response.

“And I’m the one who’s making it even more complicated,” said Erin.

“Then make it uncomplicated,” said Abby. “You know you’re always welcome Erin.”

Erin’s lips were once again on Abby’s, silencing any response she might have gotten out of her best friend. She did hear Holtz come down the stairs, and she tried to silently send her lover away. Instead, Holtz stopped, contemplated the scene (Abby was going to kill her later for that _grin_ ), and pulled out her phone. She took a couple of pictures in rapid succession and practically ran up the stairs, boots stomping all along the way.

“Was that--?” began Erin. Abby sighed.

“Holtz, yeah. Patty had an appointment.”

“I’ll go talk to her,” said Erin, which surprised them both. She headed for the stairwell.

“Hold that thought,” she said, looking back at Abby.  
  
“Can’t. It’s already gone... downwards,” Abby said with a sigh as she sat in her desk chair.

Erin made her way into Holtz’s lab, where the blonde was pretending to look busy.

“If I see those photos anywhere near any of the social media accounts for the Ghostbusters with the tag Gaybusters, I swear Holtz--”

Holtzmann’s eyes grew wide as she contemplated the idea.

“I hadn’t thought of that, but that’s perfect Erin!”

Erin sighed, crossing her arms.

“I suppose it’s better than a dancing ghost emoji.”

“I could do both,” contemplated Holtz, rubbing her chin.

“Holtz, don’t hurt Abby because of me, please.”

“Aw, you mean I can’t text Patty?”

“As long as that’s all you’re doing,” said Erin. She grimaced. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?” asked Holtzmann, typing something into her phone.

“For letting Abby hurt you and Patty.” Holtz put down her phone, rolling her eyes at Erin.

“You do realize Abby is a grown woman right? One that can make her own decisions? She’s not just yours anymore.”

Erin flinched at that and sighed.

“I know. I know we can never go back to being stupid in love college students. Things change. We’ve changed. My best friend is into polyamory and frankly, I’m a little jealous.”

The statement caught Holtz by surprise as she dropped her welding goggles. They clattered loudly on the tile floor.

“You’re _jealous_?”

Erin crossed her arms.

“Oh, this is best,” squealed Holtzmann. “Erin Gilbert, I swear...” She moved to where she was standing directly in front of the redhead.

“So let me ask you this first,” said Holtz, touching her right pointer finger to Erin’s lips. “Are you jealous that we get to have Abby, or you’re jealous of the fact that she’s got two healthy relationships with crazy gorgeous and absolutely fabulous people that love her?”

The particle physicist glowered at Holtz.

“You are! I knew it!” said Holtz, clapping her hands loudly together. “You are jealous that she’s happy with us.” Holtz went back to her workstation. “I knew when we were at the Aldridge Mansion that something was bothering you. Abby had made a life of her own and you weren’t a part of it. You wanted her to be waiting for you to come back.”

“And if I did--” said Erin in a small voice. Holtz came back over and took Erin’s head in her hands and leaned her forehead against her own.

“It’s okay to be jealous,” said Holtz softly. “But don’t mess up what we have by trying to steal Abby away from us because of it.” She paused and looked into Erin’s blue eyes before sneaking a kiss to her forehead.

“You have made my week, by the way.”

“Don’t tell Abby,” said Erin softly. Holtzmann frowned and picked up her goggles. She gave Erin a stern look as she twirled them in her hand.

“Then think on this,” said Holtz. “Abby has been hesitating to tell you about us because she wanted you to feel happy and loved and whole.” Erin frowned, thinking. She dropped her head.

“We do all love and care for you, especially  _some_ of us,” Holtz continued. “That she’s practically helpless to tell you no for that reason.”

“And if I join you, I could be with Abby?” said Erin, scratching behind her ear.

“You get to have Abby, you get to have Patty, and you get to have Holtzy,” smirked Holtzmann. “We’re a package deal, us ‘Y’s’.”

Erin shifted back and forth, unsure.

“Think about it,” said Holtz. “You know we all care for you, Erin.”

“And I, you,” she said softly. “We’re a team, a family.”

“We’d be stronger as a team if we were all in this together.”

The physicist nodded, not saying anything.

\-----

Erin had volunteered to man the late night calls an extra evening while Holtz was gone for the weekend to a conference with Dr. Gorin. She attended every year because her mentor loved having her there for “shits and giggles”, whatever that meant. She was ready for some sleep when she heard some laughter coming from Patty’s room. She knocked on the door and heard Patty telling her she could enter. Patty and Abby were curled up on the bed together, reading. The native New Yorker had a _romance novel_ of all things, and Abby was reading on her tablet. Patty and Abby both were in their pajamas and looking comfortable. Her best friend even had one of her feet thrown over Patty’s calves. Erin suspected she had been rubbing her toes up and down Patty’s gorgeous skin.

“Come on in,” said Patty. “We’re making use of the quiet time. We can usually only get this when Holtzy is asleep.”

“Enjoying her absence huh?” smirked Erin.  
  
“I’ve already read two books today,” said Patty.

“I’m almost all caught up with reading your latest chapter Erin,” said Abby. “I made notes.”

“Anything good come in?” Patty asked. The redhead shook her head.

“Nothing too pressing,” she said. “It can wait till Monday.” She stopped talking, feeling out of sorts. It was almost awkward, seeing the two of them like such. Talking with Holtzmann was one thing, but this was intimate. Erin could even imagine Holtz sprawled out at the foot of the bed, headphones on and watching something on her laptop, all three of them enjoying the quiet company. That would be nice. Abby must have noticed what she was feeling. She waved a hand in Erin’s direction.

“Great,” said Abby. “Why don’t you come and join us? We’re just relaxing.”

At first, Erin thought she was joking. _She couldn’t, could she?_ It wasn’t like they were doing anything. Abby and Patty were both sitting against the headboard of the bed. The closest thing to intimacy was Abby’s head was laying on Patty’s chest and Patty had been casually running her fingers through Abby’s hair, which surprisingly was down out of her usual messy bun.

“Let me go get my book,” said Erin, surprising herself. “Should I bring snacks?”

“Holtzmann’s secret gummy bear stash is on the third shelf of the second cabinet from the fridge,” said Patty. “Next to the flour.”

“So that’s where she’s keeping them,” said Abby. “She keeps changing spots so much lately.”

“It’s because we keep stealing them when she’s in the lab.”

“Gummy bears it is,” said Erin, thinking it was an odd choice for a late snack, but she could run with it. She picked up her novel, _The Girl on the Train_ , grabbed the bears out of the cabinet in the kitchen, and headed back towards Patty’s room. She took a deep breath and let it out before entering.

She was surprised when Abby had moved to between Patty’s knees. She had a hairbrush between her teeth and was putting her hair back up.

“No...” said Erin. She took the ponytail holder out of Abby’s hands. “Don’t do that,” she said. “Your hair is so pretty when it’s down.” Patty chuckled.

“She doesn’t believe me, so maybe she’ll believe you.”

“You and Holtz, I swear,” said Erin. She took the hairbrush. “You both have gorgeous hair, but you always wear it up.”

“Been noticing Holtzmann’s gorgeous blonde locks, have you?” said Abby. Erin rolled her eyes.

“Shut up Abby.”

Patty laughed out loud as she turned a page in her book.

“Oh, I knew you two were going to be fun.”

Erin gestured for Abby to turn around as she sat down on the bed. Patty moved her leg to the other side of Abby, crossing them. She grabbed the bag of gummy bears and noticed Erin’s book.

“Oh, let me know what you think of it. I’ve been wanting to read that.”

“It’s not bad so far,” said Erin. “Starts out a little awkward though.” She noticed Abby pressed against her when she started brushing her hair out. Some things never changed. Her best friend loved someone playing in her hair. She had always suspected that Abby’s head was extra sensitive and she enjoyed the touch.

“You used to fall asleep when I did this,” she teased Abby.

“Don’t tempt me,” she yawned. “You should have just let me put my hair up. We’re supposed to be enjoying the quiet and reading.”

“Yes, but then I wouldn’t be able to do something I haven’t done in about 16 years,” Erin said. “I’ll take the moment.”

“And it’s quite cute,” said Patty. “I’ve already sent one picture to Holtzy.” She held up her phone.

“For future record, she attacked me and took my hairbrush,” said Abby. Erin rolled her eyes at Patty as she ran a hand through Abby’s hair.

“It doesn’t look like she’s complaining.”

“Not when it comes to her head and scalp,” said Patty. She nudged Abby with one of her socked feet. She smiled, watching the two. Her phone went off. Patty smirked at the text.

“Erin, Holtzy said not to give Abby a full scalp massage unless you don’t want to get anything or anyone done for the next 24 hours.”

“Tell Holtz she can shut up and to go enjoy the free drinks.”

“Abby!” said Erin, laughing.

“She thinks she’s my caretaker sometimes,” scoffed Abby.  
  
“Mmhmm,” said Patty. “Not like you don’t sit there and fret when she goes dumpster diving for spare parts. She has to check in with you every hour.”

“Did she ever tell you the story about when she went missing for three _days_?” Abby asked.

“When she met that Vietnam war vet and walked him home to his granddaughter?” said Patty. “She might have said something about it.”

“Did she forget to mention the granddaughter lived in Trenton? They _hitchhiked_ part of the way _._ Ended up in the back of some guy’s truck sandwiched between two ducks and a goat.”

“And why hasn’t this been made into a movie?” asked Erin, looking between Patty and Abby.

“Holtz didn’t think it was a big deal. He had dementia and had gotten a little lost,” said Patty.

“A _little_ lost?” said Erin, bewildered.

“He lived in New York for most of his life,” said Abby. “And so that’s where he ends up when they can’t find him. Walking his old neighborhood somewhere in Queens.”

“It was good that she got him home,” stated Erin.

“She could have called,” grumped Abby. “I had to explain that she had to take an unexpected leave of absence to help take care of an ailing grandparent.”

“Technically she did,” said Patty.

“Which is why it worked well for a quick lie.”

“Uh-huh,” said Erin, still brushing Abby’s hair. “Patty, ask Abby about how she got lost in the woods for three days in Michigan when she was a  _child_.”

“What!” said Patty, looking at Abby. The brunette groaned.

“You would remember that,” said Abby, nudging her best friend in the ribs. Erin squirmed and got away from Abby’s hands.  
  
“How the hell did you get lost in the woods?” asked Patty.

“Technically she wasn’t lost,” said Erin. “Abby went exploring behind her house and couldn’t find her way back. Her parents, however, knew exactly where she was at, and instead of disturbing her and making her come home, left food for her and made sure she was safe. But three _days_ Patty.”

Patty looked baffled. “I can’t decide if your parents were geniuses or insane.”

“Both,” said Abby.

“Someone ended up with poison oak,” smirked Erin.

“Oooh, damn. Rough stuff.”

“It wasn’t pleasant,” Abby winced. Erin chuckled.

“I think that’s why Holtz worries about you. You would probably get into as much trouble as she would.”

Patty started laughing. “Ain’t that the truth.” She grinned at her girlfriend.

“Holtz and I are nothing alike,” scoffed Abby.

“Besides being confident in your eccentricities,” said Patty. “And unconventional thought.”

“Holtz is probably the only reason why you’re responsible now,” Erin said before thinking. It surprised her for a moment but she continued brushing. “Which is why you two work so well.”

“Mmhmm,” said Patty. “I noticed it too.”

“When you two get done psychoanalyzing the fact that Holtz and I work well together because we somehow make each other better, let me know,” said Abby, closing her eyes.

“I think we made someone grumpy,” Erin said. She lifted up Abby’s hair and started brushing out underneath. She wasn’t surprised by the small whimper that came from her best friend.

“You’re going to make her fall asleep in a minute,” chuckled Patty.

“Wouldn’t be the first time.”

“You two are far more interesting than sleep at the moment,” said Abby. “We usually don’t get to spend time much like this.”

“I wonder why that is,” commented Erin.

“Ghosts,” said Abby.

“Holtzy,” said Patty. They looked at each other.

“A combo of the two, I guess,” said Abby. Erin had started braided the sides of Abby’s hair, concentrating as she worked on her technique. It had been a while since she had done this. The last time had been her cousin’s daughter’s hair for someone’s wedding. The little girl had been so ecstatic about the look that she had gone and showed everyone there. It had been one of the few times that people had complimented her on something besides her job. It had taken all she could to keep her hands from shaking because the only reason she even knew how to do it was because she had spent so much time playing in Abby’s hair in high school.

But now that she and Abby were friends again, even if they were nearly in their 40’s and long past childhood, she could do her hair again freely.

The thought made her relax and before she knew it, had Abby’s hair up in a braided bun. She sat back and admired her work.

“That’s gorgeous Erin!” said Patty looking up from her book. “What is that?”

“It’s a double dutch braided bun,” said the redhead smiling. “Haven’t done that in years.”

“You’ve still got it, baby,” said Patty. “It looks really good in Abby’s hair.”

“Ask her how many times she’s practiced it,” said Abby, feeling of the braids. “I spent most of high school with one braid or bun or another.”

“I never had anyone to do anything with,” said Erin. “So when Abby came along, I had a willing participant.”

“You two were practically made for each other in high school, weren’t you?” Patty commented, flipping a page.

“Practically,” echoed Erin. “It helped a lot.” She noticed Abby yawning.

“Guess that did make you tired.”

“I was already tired,” said Abby. “I think I’m going to let the two of you read for a while. Going to close my eyes for a bit.” She teasingly pushed Erin towards the head of the bed and curled up by the foot with a pillow. The redhead was reminded of the imagery from earlier of Holtz in her thoughts and smiled. She looked over at Patty, who was snacking on a red gummy bear.

“What? Red’s my favorite.”

“I like the clear ones,” said Erin. She put her hand in the bag to grab a couple. Hers and Patty’s hands met, and Erin blushed. Patty gave her a small smirk.

“Thinking about my hands?”

“You... you’re just beautiful Patty,” said Erin softly. “I love the soft skin of your fingers. I kind... I kind of want to kiss every piece of you to find out if all of you is that soft.”

“That’s-- awfully not Erin,” said Patty, arching an eyebrow.

“It is me. It’s just a part of me that doesn’t come out a lot.”

“You’re still as uptight as hell.”

Erin nodded, scrunching up her lips and nose. Patty squeezed Erin’s hand after she had popped a couple of the gummy bears in her mouth.

“Ain’t nothing wrong with that. We all have our uptightness. Even Holtzmann.”

“I didn’t realize there was an uptight bone in her body.”

“Mmhmm,” said Patty. “It involves shutting out other people when she wants to.”

“You don’t mind that I think you’re gorgeous?” said Erin.

“Erin, sweetie... you have every right to think what you want.”

She seemed relieved at that.

“What Holtzmann said still stands true for all of us,” Patty added. “We’d love to have you, Erin.”

A soft snore interrupted them and they both laughed softly. Erin started to pick up her book.

“Could I--” she began. “Could I kiss you?”

“Well, since you asked nicely... yes,” said Patty. “I do believe consent is a major part of any relationship. Although Holtzy has to have an open door policy since she practically crawls all over me and Abby all the damn time.”

“They won’t--” began Erin. Patty shook her head.

“Not a problem Erin. It’s you.”

Erin went in slow, feeling a little panicked at first. This was whole new territory, and she was nervous energy running from her scalp to her toes. It had been a while since she had kissed a girl other than Abby. But Patty’s lips were full and so kissable that she had practically moaned as she grabbed a hold of Patty’s shoulder. Patty’s hand was cradling the side of her face and her tongue was dragging slowly across Erin’s and the physicist just wanted more. The kiss broke apart when they thought they heard a noise, startling them. They looked at Abby, who was still sound asleep. Erin and Patty grinned at each other like they had done something devious and gotten away with it. Patty leaned in for a soft kiss as Erin rubbed her cheek. They separated and picked up their books, going back to reading. Erin scooted closer to Patty. She was still feeling a little odd about the situation, but somehow the whole thing felt different. She loved how Patty’s gold earrings shone against her skin, much like how her personality lit up the firehouse every morning, even before coffee.

This was a different type of girl time, and she really was liking it.

Abby was just grateful she had managed to sneak in a picture in her sleepy haze to send to Holtz. And that she had quite stealthily had gotten her phone on silent before they had noticed and she fell back asleep. She couldn’t wait to see Holtz’s text responses when she woke back up.

\-----

“I sort of-- I sort of might have lied to Abby,” said Erin to Holtzmann a few weeks later in the lab. Patty had gone to see her Uncle about something, and Abby had taken Kevin to go pick up some supplies that she had ordered online. Erin had been helping Holtz with some prep work. The blonde flipped up her goggles.

“How so?”

“I’ve been telling her that I didn’t want to go with you three on the trip next week so I could get some work done here,” Erin stated. “Which is sort of true. We could publish a few more articles to garner more business. But I um... I wasn’t really telling the truth. I do want to come with you since you are all my friends and it’s a _vacation_. But how--”

“Are you speaking in the monetary sense or perhaps the poly sense? The latter, I guessing.” Erin didn’t say anything, but she nodded.

“If you’re wondering about sleeping arrangements, you do realize that we all don’t sleep in the same bed most of the time. It’s a little impractical, especially since none of us would get any rest with the way I kick and tumble. We’ve got double beds, the largest Kings they had in the place. We were going to switch out nights so for two nights at least we’d all have a turn at sleeping by ourselves.” Holtzmann grinned.

“But if you did join us, then we can work out a sleeping arrangement. Maybe then I could put you in the bed with me, Gilbert.” Erin was blushing a little at the thought. But for once, Holtz gave her a reprieve and went back to her work.

“I suppose... I suppose I could go with you guys,” said Erin, smiling a little after a minute or two of thinking. Holtz’s eyes lit up.

“We’ll have fun,” she grinned, pulling off her gloves and kissing Erin on the lips quickly. She patted Erin’s cheeks afterward. The physicist gave a squeak as it had surprised her greatly.

“Holtz!”

The blonde didn’t say anything but slid across the floor to go grab another tool. Erin sighed and crossed her arms. They should have never kept the smooth tile in Holtz’s lab. When Holtz still continued to ignore her and kept on working, the physicist just shook her head and smiled. Holtz would never change. And she supposed that was one of the good things about her. She was predictable in her unpredictability.

“So how are you guys going?”


	2. Chapter 2

\-----

“I can’t believe we just took the Ecto-1 to the beach,” said Erin, closing the door on the car at their hotel. The sunlight automatically hit her and she had to squint to be able to make out her friends as they trudged out of the car. It had been a long ride. North Carolina was a bit of a trip from New York.

“I still can’t believe I dragged my ass out of bed at the crack of dawn, but we’re here,” said Patty. “And nobody has died yet.”

“We still got time,” grinned Holtzmann as she patted the roof of the vehicle. “Ol’ baby did good.”

Erin reached back into the Cadillac and shook Abby awake, who had been in the backseat with her. “Abby, we’re here.” Abby just gave a small grunt and turned her head in the other direction.

“How was she so dead to the world with Holtz driving?” asked Erin, shaking her head.

“I think at this point Abby is so used to Holtz’s antics that nothing shocks or surprises her,” shrugged Patty.

“Not unless she’s actually behaving, then that would be a shock,” said Abby, sounding rather sleepily. She yawned and stretched.

“I can behave,” scoffed Holtzmann. “Just because I don’t do it doesn’t mean I can’t.”

“Uh-huh,” said Patty, smiling. “Sure, we believe that baby.” Holtz grinned and started getting hers and Patty’s things from the front seat. Abby finally climbed out of the back and squinted into the sun.

“Remind me again why we came to the beach?”

“200 shipwrecks,” said Holtz with a grin. “We’re going down to test and explore, remember?”

“Wait, you’re going scuba diving?” asked Erin.

“Yep,” said Holtz, popping her lips on the “p” while she threw Abby the keys to open the back. “It’s going to be the _best_.” She winked at Erin, who looked somewhat disconcerted at the idea.

\-----

Erin thought the hotel that Patty found was really nice. It was right there on the beach, and their room had a really large floor to ceiling windows where they could see the sun rising over the surf in the morning. They also opened up and lead out to a balcony with a table and chairs. There was a small kitchenette with the necessities needed to make a few meals. The full sized coffee pot was a delight to see because Abby would have half of that guzzled down by 8 in the morning, and Erin herself was glad to see a full sized fridge. The bathroom had a walk-in shower that could fit two people and a copper clawfoot tub that she was going to luxuriate in. The dual sinks were also a bonus so they could brush their teeth at the same time. Erin loved the color on the walls and the large stack of the fluffiest towels she had ever seen. Even the two king-sized beds looked very plush and comfy on the other side of the living room.

Which was the place Erin felt nervous about. Sharing beds with three people over the course of a week was definitely going to be interesting. She rubbed a hand across her stomach after bringing in the last bags. They had stopped in the city and had gotten groceries. Holtzmann was carefully cradling the bag with several containers of Pringles. Abby hip-bumped Erin.

“Stop worrying that big ol’ head of yours over nothin’,” she said, leaning into her friend.

“I know,” she said with a sigh. “I’m trying to think of the whole thing like a really big sleepover.”

“That’s because it is,” said Patty, setting down a case of water in the kitchen. “And that’s the last of everything.”

“Great,” said Abby, nodding. “Now to--”

“Go have some fun!” Holtzmann said, cutting in. She wrapped her arms around Patty. “I say we explore this place and get a lay of the land. Then we hit the cocktail bar for a couple of drinks. There is a boardwalk not that far away. I want to go win my ladies some stuffed animals before the seafood grill.”

“Holtz is great at that,” nodded Patty. “I’m telling you, Erin, it’s like crazy how well she can do.”

“I give them all to kids,” grinned Holtz. “You just need to know how to work the system.”

“And the people,” said Abby. “You would be surprised how well Holtz gets along with carnies.”

“That’s because I fix their stuff when they can’t,” said Holtzmann with a shrug. “So they give me free food.”

“Is there anyone who doesn’t give you free food?” asked Patty, leaning her head sideways to look at Holtz.

“Uh...” said Holtzmann, blinking rapidly as she tried to think.

“This might take a while,” said Abby, patting Erin’s arm. “Let’s put the drinks in the fridge and let them start getting cold.”

\-----

Between the funnel cake, homemade cherry lime soda, and the fresh shrimp and crab in the big seafood cookout right there on the beach at their hotel, Erin was full and happy. The tiredness from the drive had worn off and they had a lot of fun walking the boardwalk. And true to form, Holtz killed at all the games. Erin had ended up with a white and silver sparkly unicorn, which made her laugh and move it just to watch it shimmer. Patty had taken a good sized stuffed bear with a purple and red cape and mask. It had already been dubbed Superbear and Patty hadn’t stopped hugging it till it had made its way back to the hotel room. The biggest winner of the night was Abby, who had gotten a really large Scooby Doo plush out of the deal. Erin was fairly certain it could be used as a body pillow. The “S” dog tag on his collar was bigger than her thumb, and Erin knew she had larger hands than most.

“I don’t even know where you’re going to put that thing in the firehouse Abby. He’s gigantic,” laughed Patty as Abby had draped the stuffed dog’s paws over her shoulders and was wearing him like a backpack.

“He’s going to my room and staying,” said Abby, pulling it closer to her.

“At least until Halloween,” Holtz said. “We _are_ doing that group costume.”

“Oh lord,” said Patty. “I can see it now.”

“You’re going to be the best Fred ever,” teased the blonde. “Erin will be a beautiful Daphne.”

“Wait, I’m Daphne? Why?” asked Erin.

“Red hair,” teased Abby. “I’ve always told you that.” She shifted Scooby a bit of her shoulders. “I’ll just have to find a good pair of brown bell bottoms, and--”

“Oh no,” said Holtz. “You are _so_ not being Shaggy. That is _my_ job, Abby.”

“Holtz, seriously? You cannot--” began Abby. Holtz grabbed Abby’s hand, kissing it.

“You will be a beautiful Velma. I can’t wait to see you in that red miniskirt.” Erin started laughing, knowing how much Abby hated dresses and skirts of any type.

“I’m going to have to find you a nice vintage orange turtleneck sweater,” teased Erin. They all chuckled, except for Abby, who gave off a little huff.

They had all headed back to the hotel room, deciding that they had enough for the evening. Even Holtz had admitted that everything was catching up to her. Erin said she wanted to take a quick shower, feeling the need to get the sand off her feet from where they had gone for a quick walk on the beach after dinner. It had been one of the first times she had noticed Abby and Patty holding hands. There had been a lot of physical affection among them all during the evening. Holtz had gotten a kiss from Abby for good luck while trying to win one of the shooting arcade games. Patty had grabbed her hands more than once while they were looking through the booths on the boardwalk to show her some of the homemade treats. Abby had stayed by Erin’s side during dinner and they had put their arms around each other’s waists as they watched Holtzmann and Patty running through the sand. Erin had enjoyed holding Abby close to her. It really did make her happy to know that her best friend had people who loved her. Erin rinsed the shampoo from her hair under the showerhead. She loved the water pressure at the firehouse when it came to getting off ectoplasm, but it sometimes it was a little too hard for her tastes. This was just about perfect. As much as she wanted she just wanted to stay under the running water, at some point she was going to have to come out. She sighed as she turned off the water and opened the glass door.

It was a slumber party. A really big slumber party. She just had to keep reminding herself of that.

Erin dressed in a tank top and shorts, relieved she had packed something light. Even with the air conditioning in the hotel room, the humidity on the coast was getting to her. She headed out of the bathroom, surprised to see the lights already low. The others hadn’t even made a move to get ready for bed yet when she had gone to shower. She went over to the closet where she and Patty had unpacked and hung up their clothes to get their things out of the way. She was surprised to see Holtz still sitting on the couch. That meant...

“Yep, my two nerds already went to sleep,” said Holtzmann, guessing Erin’s thoughts over her cell phone. She gestured to the beds. Abby and Patty were already snoozing on one of them. Abby had her arm over Patty’s hip and she was cuddled into her neck. Erin shook her head.

“Guess it’s just you and me then,” stated Erin, sitting down on the couch beside Holtzmann.

“Wanna go set off some fireworks on the beach?” grinned Holtz. “I think I could whip up something if I could get into the cleaning closets.”

Erin laughed and shook her head.

“While that does sound like fun, I don’t feel like getting kicked out of our hotel for stealing their property.” Holtz made a face but nodded after finishing up a text.

“Holtz--” began Erin, but the engineer shook her head.

“Before you start making nervous observations, I need to know one thing. Are you a cuddler?”

“What?” said Erin, feeling blank at the question.

“I need to know my boundaries,” said Holtzmann, gesturing. “Help a lady out here. I move a lot and squirm and sometimes I reach out and latch onto things. Bad habit from an old girlfriend. She liked to be held. It works for Abby and Patty, but then they sort of expect it.”

Erin laughed softly to herself.

“I don’t think they’d be _your_ girlfriends if they didn’t expect to be cuddled.” Holtz gave Erin a thumbs up.

“So--”

“I’m not really sure,” shrugged Erin. “The last time I was actually held was well, Abby...”

Holtz nearly dropped her phone.

“Please tell me you’re joking Gilbert.”

Erin shrugged again. “None of my boyfriends ever really stayed... the night. They usually left after, well, you get the point. Come to think of it... None of them ever moved in with me or suggested I move in with them. So, yeah, I’m not really sure?” She was surprised when Holtz launched into her side. Erin felt warm in the hug from Holtzmann.

“Oh my precious darling,” cooed Holtz, rubbing Erin’s cheek before kissing it. “We’re going to fix this.” She sat back with a yawn.

“Except maybe not tonight. I think I’m going to conk out for a few hours.” Erin watched as Holtz went over to the bed, turned down the covers, lay her glasses on the side table, and plopped face down on the mattress, her limbs all spread out around her. At that moment, Erin was glad the beds were king sized, or Holtz’s arms and legs would take up all the space in the bed. She went over and turned off the bedside lamp, leaving the room in darkness, sans for the small light in the kitchenette and the moon shining in on the very soft navy blue carpet beneath her feet. She stacked up her two pillows and got into bed. She had been right. It was like one big sleepover. She looked over to Holtz and ruffled her hair before closing her eyes.

\-----

Erin barely remembered falling asleep, but she did realize the windows in their hotel room was open as she awoke because she could hear the sound of the waves hitting the shore. It made her want to wake up faster, especially since she could smell coffee. But she was content to lay there a few more minutes. There was an unfamiliar weight around her abdomen, but she had figured that Holtzmann had to have done like she said she would and latched on to her in the night. She was fairly certain Holtz’s head was on her stomach and she was curled into her side. It was a nice feeling, really. She liked the idea that someone wanted to be by her side.

_But three someones?_

“I told Holtz she had nothing to worry about,” said a voice quietly. It took Erin a moment to realize it was Abby. She and Patty were awake already, it seemed.

“Well, she did, but Erin must have thrown it out the window,” chuckled Patty. “They’re cute.” Erin heard Patty whisper something to Abby, but she didn’t catch it as Holtz had taken that moment to wake up, jostling her just a tiny bit. She heard Holtz grumble something about the light, but it didn’t last long as she practically bounced out of bed. The next thing Erin knew was a flurry of feet heading over to the balcony. Both Abby and Patty were laughing as she groaned at the sudden lack of blankets. Erin managed to open her eyes a little and saw Abby and Patty grinning like mad over their coffee cups in the kitchen. Holtz was all stretched out on the balcony as if she were a cat trying to take in every bit of sunshine she could get. Erin pulled back up the covers.

“Morning Erin,” said Patty. Abby hadn’t stopped giggling, which was making Patty laugh more.

“Morning,” she said muffled into the pillow. She lifted her head. “Holtzmann does awaken with a bit of enthusiasm.”

“You’d hate to see her after she’s gotten a full night of sleep,” muttered Abby.

“That sounds like a scary thing to... wake up to,” said Erin as Holtz passed, headed toward the bathroom. Erin sat up, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

“You ready for breakfast?” asked Abby. “Big Southern buffet waiting downstairs.”

“I’m not sure my stomach has recovered from the shrimp last night,” said Erin, holding her abdomen. “But I’ve already anticipated I’m going to gain ten pounds this week, so why not.” Patty laughed at that.

“That’s the spirit. Come on and get out of bed girl before Holtzy gets any ideas of going back to sleep.”

“No, that would be Abby,” said the engineer as she came out of the bathroom, combing out her now wet hair. “Keep an eye on her Patty so she doesn’t climb in bed with Erin.”

“Nope, I’ve had her on the coffee IV already,” said Patty. “She’s up and going.”

“At least three cups?” frowned Holtzmann, pinning back her hair.

“Minimum standard to get Abby going in the mornings, yes,” nodded Erin.

“Hey, I’m sitting right here,” said Abby, sounding irritated.

“Honey, we know what you need to get you out the door in the mornings quite well,” said Holtzmann. She came over and kissed Abby on the cheek. She jumped when she saw the large Scooby Doo sitting beside the other bed.

“Dear God, I think he grew during the night.”

“He’s just a stuffed animal, he didn’t grow,” said Erin, standing up. She came into the kitchenette and got a cup of coffee. It smelled so good. She realized Abby had packed her favorite as she looked at the counter. She smiled a little at the gesture. Erin watched as Patty was teasing Holtzy as she got dressed. Unlike Patty and herself who were smart and hung up their clothes, both Abby and Holtz had thrown their suitcases on the nearby loveseat and left them there. It was amusing seeing Holtz pull out various things and throw them back in. How she ever found anything, Erin couldn’t figure it out. Much like her lab space, she supposed.

It was calming to watch her friends interact. She didn’t know what she really expected when she had thought about coming with them. They were all in a relationship. Had she expected like, rampant sex? It struck her for a brief second that she lived with them and she didn’t even realize they had a love life. It impressed her now that she thought about it that they had kept things quiet, especially with Holtz. Although neither Patty or Abby were quiet people. It sort of boggled her mind she hadn’t heard any of their sexual activity.

Erin had to admit, she was a bit... intrigued by the idea of being with all three of her friends. That was a lot of hands to coordinate. She wanted to see how that would work, really. And feel. God, she wanted to know how that would feel. Having sex with Abby had been so relieving. She hadn’t been made to feel that good and wanted in a long while and she needed more of it.

She finished off her cup of coffee and went for a second. Erin figured she was going to need it if they were going to breakfast then out to the beach.

\-----

Getting dressed and prepped for the beach turned out to be an adventure as everyone got their stuff together. After getting an extra umbrella, locating Holtz’s sunblock (it was in Patty’s bag), and water for everyone, they finally made it across the walkway and onto the sand. It was really warm between Erin’s toes as her sandals sunk down into it. She didn’t mind the gritty feeling between her toes again as she watched Holtz rip off her tank and glasses and go running toward the ocean. Abby just shook her head and picked up the garment and eyewear. Patty chuckled and handed Erin the extra umbrella and her bag. She yelled for Holtzy to wait for her as she took off the wrap she had around an orange and white bikini. Erin had been surprised by how well it stood out against her skin.

“Quit gawkin’ Gilbert,” said Abby, nudging Erin as Holtzmann would. “She’s taken.” Erin rolled her eyes at Abby’s grin as she put Patty’s skirt under her arm..

“How did you three even come to be a thing?” asked Erin. Abby spread out a beach towel over one of the chairs they had rented and sat down. They piled Patty’s and Holtz’s things between the two beach chairs. Abby took their umbrella and placed it beside her, opening it to provide extra shade to the one between the chairs. Erin couldn’t help but be amused by Abby staying in her capris and sapphire blue shirt.

“You’re going to burn up in that,” said Erin, gesturing to Abby’s clothes. “It’s supposed to be like 90-92 today.”

“I’m not really a beach person,” said Abby, taking off the simple black flip-flops she had been wearing. She started rubbing in sunblock on her feet after dusting them off. “But I knew Patty and Holtz would have fun. And the view’s nice.”

Erin nodded and took off the wrap she had on over her swimsuit. She had a purple and red one piece that had a square motif. She had liked it because it wasn’t flowers and was different than the others she had seen. Erin pulled out her sunscreen and started spreading it across her skin. She was hoping to come back with a suntan.

“Holtzmann,” began Abby, rubbing in sunblock on the back of her neck. “She... well, you know her. She and I had both guessed that Patty was interested in more than just being friends. She had been spending a lot of time at lunches and such. And I knew Holtz was interested too. But the thing with Holtzmann like I’ve said before is that she is very loyal. She wasn’t going to pursue anything with Patty because she was with me-- up until I told her that she could. I have to admit I was surprised when Patty said she wanted to pursue a relationship with both of us.”

“Why?” said Erin.

“Erin...”

“You sell yourself so short sometimes Abby.” The brunette sighed.

“Anyways, so that happened. It’s been... interesting.”

Erin caught a glimpse of Holtz’s gray and bright neon yellow swim trunks. She was wearing a bikini top that matched the trunks. It all worked for her, she supposed. Erin realized that her tank top had matched as well. It caught her off guard for a moment, because Holtz _never_ matched. It made her wonder if this was Holtz’s first trip to the beach. Abby laughed next to her and Erin noticed that Patty was dunking Holtz into the water and Holtzmann was clinging to Patty’s shoulders, yelling out in either joy or surprise.

“I’m sure it has.” She paused for a moment.

“And you do sell yourself short Abby. You’ve got three women who are interested in you.”

“I’m not sure you--”

Erin looked at Abby over the top of her sunglasses.

“Okay, fiiiiiiine.” The redhead grinned at that.

“It’s cute, really.”

“How so?” said Abby, taking out a book.

“You,” said Erin. “Living.” She sat back in the chair. “When I first saw you again... I thought you had given up. The school, the lab... we were supposed to be scientists, Abby. Learning things on the cusp of science. That was our dream. It took me a while to realize that you were there on that cusp and I was the one who had run away again.”

“Yeah, the whole thing wasn’t ideal,” said Abby. “We didn’t have much in the way of money, and literally were putting things together with aluminum foil and duct tape. Did you even see the wiring in the lab? It’s a wonder one night that we didn’t burn up in that place.”

“But you and Holtz had each other,” Erin said. “I was an esteemed professor and had a lot going for me and I couldn’t even get anyone to talk to me.”

“They just didn’t know you,” said Abby. “Or you’d have tons of people talking to you.”

“Maybe I’ve always just been meant for the weird ones,” said Erin.

“No arguments from me,” Abby teased her friend. “And to be honest... I had given up in a lot of ways. Up until Holtzmann... I never thought I’d be... with people. I went to work alone, I went home alone. I had to sit through my mother going on and on about families and responsibilities and my brother... you get the picture. Then Holtz came in, looking for a job with the force of a hurricane. She took my ideas and actually brought them to life. My PKE meter... I’ve seen that in my head for so long and to hold it in my hands was just such a blessing. Then she took my heart too, which was a surprise. And she ran away with it. I haven’t seen it since. By now she’s probably made a machine out of it.”

“Nothing would surprise me,” said Erin. “And Patty?”

“Another force of nature,” shrugged Abby. “You saw how she swept in so easily into our lives.”

“Huh, guess it runs in the group,” mused Erin. “Because that’s exactly what my mother called you.”

Abby gave off a small snort at that.

“Not sure I count as a hurricane.”

“No,” grinned Erin. “But you shook up my world, so I’d say maybe an 8.6 earthquake.”

“That much huh?” said Abby.

“I never did recover,” teased Erin. She laid her head back against the back of the chair and closed her eyes, letting the sun wash over her. She felt warm all over, enjoying the sun’s rays. She’d let Abby have all the shade. Sitting there now, she couldn’t believe she almost missed out on this just to work by herself in the firehouse.

\-----

They ended up deciding to spend the rest of the day on the beach, foregoing lunch and afternoon shopping. Abby had volunteered to go get some more drinks and a few snacks from their room. Erin had taken a couple of dips in the ocean, swimming a few laps and avoiding being dunked down deeper in the water by Holtzmann. She was drying off her hair when Patty came up and sat down in Abby’s chair. She started taking a towel to her legs to get off some sand. She and Holtz had been sitting on the edge of the water and talking.

“I’m glad you’re here, by the way.”

Erin looked up at Patty. She had stretched out in Abby’s chair, fanning her face.

“Why so?” asked the physicist.

“I love my girls, don’t get me wrong, but they’re not the most practical of people,” said Patty. “Holtzy would probably be beet red by now.”

“Probably,” agreed Erin. “At least she’s been remembering to reapply.”

“That is something at least,” nodded Patty. Things were quiet for a second.

“It’s not just that.”

“Oh?” said Erin, hoping her tone would lead Patty to continue. She squinted into the sun to look at her friend before remembering she did bring sunglasses. She started reaching for her bag.

“It’s complicated,” said Patty. “With the three of us... sometimes I think things are a little uneven.”

That caught Erin by surprise as she got her shades out. “How so?”

Patty grabbed her water bottle. “You know how Holtzy and Abby were a couple before--?” Erin nodded at the statement.

“Sometimes I think they get caught up in something and they’re in their own little world. Not that I mind, it’s cute really. But then it’s like a wild see-saw. A well-balanced one, but still...”

“And you think I make it better?” asked Erin, feeling dubious about that.

“I think you being here has opened up some new possibilities,” said Patty. “Besides, you are cute.”

Erin blushed at that. Patty chuckled.

“I’m still not sure,” Erin admitted. “About everything. It’s just a lot to take in.”

“Speaking of taking in,” said Holtzmann, breaking into the conversation. She was still dripping with water as she wrapped her arms around Erin’s shoulders. “You and I have a mission. And here she comes now. Let’s make ourselves scarce, eh?”

Erin looked over and saw Abby coming back down from the hotel, a couple of bags in hand. It took her a second to realize what Holtz meant. But when she did, she grinned and nodded. Patty just shook her head and laughed.

“Y'all are going to get it, I’m telling you Holtzy.”

“Just distract her for us, Patty baby,” grinned Holtzmann. Erin squealed and followed Holtzmann away from their spot on the beach before Abby got there. She got up to Patty, who took the bags from her. Patty got up off the beach chair.

“You might want to hand me your glasses,” said Patty. Abby looked strange at her girlfriend for a second, but took them off and handed them to her.

“Why--”

But Abby didn’t get to finish the thought as both Erin and Holtzmann grabbed Abby’s arms and held them tight. They were both squealing in delight as they managed to drag their friend into the ocean. Abby flailed at the both of them when they dunked her under.

“Holtzmann!”

The blonde grinned and playfully splashed Abby as she came back up. Erin did the same, earning her a glare. She wrapped her arms cheekily around her best friend.

“Well, you were the only one who hadn’t been in yet.”

“For good reason,” said Abby, who yelped when Erin got an evil grin and pushed Abby right into the small wave that overtook them.

“I’m going to get you, both of you,” exclaimed Abby, coughing. Erin and Holtz gave each other a high five. They could see Patty laughing her head off on the beach, slapping her knee. The brunette headed for their spot beachside, picking up a towel and wiping off her arms and neck. Patty handed her back her glasses.

“I warned you,” said Patty,

“And I thank you,” Abby said. “Now I’ve got to dry off and reapply.” She started to take off her shirt and Erin squeaked, surprised her best friend was going to strip out of her clothes right there on the beach. Holtzmann apparently was too, as her eyebrows were trying to leave her forehead.

“What? You really didn’t expect me to start getting naked right here in public did you?” Patty started laughing at Abby’s words. Erin was amused at seeing her writing partner in a swimsuit. It was shiny lycra in navy blue with a fitted high waist that had a large white stripe edging. It had a halter top with one shoulder strap and a white criss-cross pattern, making it look like there were X's on the top. The thing that drew Erin’s attention was how low the halter top was. The tops of Abby’s breasts were just barely covered. The other two had noticed Erin and were wearing smug looks.

“Hey babe, you might want to tuck those guns back in. Erin’s getting distracted,” said Holtzmann. The redhead wanted to smack Holtz for mentioning it.

“Huh?” said Abby, wringing out her capris. “Oh,” she said, pulling on the halter top.

“I thought you said you didn’t have a swimsuit,” said Patty, putting her hands on her hips. “That’s a good look on you.”

“I didn’t when you asked,” said Abby. “But I figured at some point, one of you will probably try to drown Holtz in the ocean, so someone has to save her.”

“Uh-huh,” grinned Holtzmann. “Sure, Abby.” She smacked Patty on the shoulder with a grin.

\-----

After going back to their room and getting ready for dinner at around sunset, they made their way to a seafood restaurant that Patty said was popular with the locals. Erin had been relieved to see that not all their food was fried at least. Holtz was popping her fried shrimp like it was candy over a couple of pitchers of a local beer with Patty. Erin just shook her head and went back to her very delicious roasted salmon salad with asparagus and kalamata olives. Patty was working her way through her curried sea scallops with orzo and grilled tomato salad. They all had gotten an order of Carolina crab cakes and Oysters Rockefeller to share. Erin had to admit the oysters with bacon and spinach was delicious. She noticed Abby staring out the window at the beach, her lobster and shrimp broil barely touched.

“Abby?” she said softly. The brunette seemed to rouse herself out of her reverie and smiled at her name being spoken.

“Sorry,” she said. “I was thinking about tomorrow and how I’m going to get Holtzmann to actually want to return to the surface. I’m beginning to believe she’s part mermaid.”

Erin chuckled at that, watching Holtz peel the breading off a piece of shrimp and eating them separately.

“Does she ever gain weight?”

“I wish,” said Abby. “But she hasn’t gained a pound for as long as I have known her.”

“I can’t gain weight,” said Holtz across the table. “Physically impossible.”

“It’s called her body has learned to survive on junk food,” said Patty, shaking her head. Abby nodded in agreement.

“It’s doing all it can to keep her alive.”

“Once in a while I’ll throw it a salad to keep it off-balance,” said Holtzmann with a wink as she dipped a piece of shrimp in cocktail sauce.

\-----

Erin and Abby had to help guide Patty and Holtz back to the hotel. They had been cracking jokes back and forth and enjoying the evening. After the beers and a couple of cocktails at a bar they had found (for some reason Holtz just had to have a mint julep [or three] while she was “Down South”), the two of them were tipsy and very giddy about it. Abby had just shaken her head and steered Patty towards the elevator while Erin was pushing on Holtzmann with both hands.

“Are they both normally this happy when they’re drunk?”

“Still haven’t seen Patty completely wasted yet, but Holtzmann usually goes quiet,” said Abby, hitting the button on the elevator. “They’re both happy.” She smiled at her girlfriends. Both Holtz and Patty kissed her on the cheek with large, sloppy kisses.

“Real happy, apparently.” Abby looked disgusted and wiped off her face on her shirt sleeve.

They got Patty and Holtz settled down into their room. Erin went and got some more ice for cold drinks since no one was really ready to sleep just yet. She came back and noticed Holtz and Patty had disappeared. Abby motioned for her to come over to the couch.

“You might not want to go near the bathroom,” she said. “Holtz and Patty decided to go take a shower.” When she heard a decisive thump while putting the ice in the freezer, she was surprised.

“And that’s not the only thing...”

“No,” said Abby. “I thought I’d warn you.”

“How...” began Erin, carefully choosing her words. “How does sex work with the three of you?”

Abby shot her a quick look of amusement. “I wouldn’t think I would have to explain--”

“Not like that,” said Erin, rolling her eyes as she sat down. She nudged Abby on the shoulder. “I meant... do you have like a schedule, or--”

“No, it’s usually spontaneous,” said Abby. “But we usually do make sure we spend some time together, just the three of us.”

“How did you do all of this?”

Abby shrugged. “Been doing it since a few weeks after Patty came into our lives. It’s a work in progress.”

“I’m still working my mind around group sex,” said Erin. Abby chortled at that.

“It’s not like the images of orgies I know you’ve got going through your head.” She shifted on the couch to turn around and face Erin. “It’s intimate. You’d be surprised at how often you don’t think about it.”

“Do you get jealous when they go off and do... that?” asked Erin.

“No, because it means someone is wearing out Holtzmann besides me,” laughed Abby. “I love her, don’t get me wrong, but sometimes she has way too much energy.”

“And what about me?” asked Erin. “Am I too much energy for you?” She moved closer to Abby, biting her lip a little. Abby’s little intake of breath gave her strength to continue. The brunette reached out and rubbed a hand down Erin’s cheek.

“You never were,” she said softly. She pulled Erin closer and kissed her. Erin practically crawled into Abby’s lap, continuing the long and drawn out kiss with her first love. Abby made a soft grab for the back of her head, almost needy. Erin was rubbing her body across Abby’s when she heard the sound of the bathroom door opening, startling her. Abby groaned.

“Oh, don’t stop because of us,” said Holtzmann, rubbing a towel across her head. She ran a hand through Abby’s ponytail. “We’ll just be over here in the kitchen.”

“Do continue,” grinned Patty, throwing her dirty clothes into her side of the closet. “We can wait to get some sleep.”

“Shower sober you up huh?” asked Abby, sighing.

“And now I’m starving,” said Holtz, picking up the current can of Pringles she was munching on.

“How--?” said Erin, sitting up. “Seriously Holtzmann.” The blonde grinned.

“I work it off satisfying these ladies,” said Holtz, pointing at Patty and Abby. “Ooh, I think I bought some pizza rolls.” She started toward the fridge. Abby muttered something under her breath as Erin moved off her lap.

“Holtzy, I think Abby’s feeling cockblocked,” said Patty, smirking a little.

“She should,” said Holtzmann, pulling her pizza rolls out of the microwave. “Considering Erin hasn’t given us a real answer yet.” She came over with her plate, sitting it on Abby’s knees as she playfully took Erin’s hands in her own.

“Keep these off the merchandise.” Abby rolled her eyes and popped one of the pizza rolls into her mouth, much to Holtz’s displeasure. She took back her plate and went over to the table, muttering loudly all the way about food thieves. She grabbed her chips and a can of spray cheese and started building little sandwiches with the pizza rolls.

“Erin, d--” began Abby, looking at her friend.

“No, Holtz is right,” said Erin, smiling sadly. “I haven’t given you an answer. And you all are still quite taken to each other. It’s not right.”

“It isn’t an open relationship,” agreed Patty, coming over and sitting next to Erin. “But it is open to you.” Erin leaned into Patty.

“I’m going to go to bed,” said Abby suddenly, getting up and going over to her suitcase before heading into the bathroom. Holtz started to follow, but Patty took a hold of her wrist.

“She’s just a little grumpy,” said Patty, shaking her head. “Let her be. She’ll be fine in the morning.” Holtz harrumphed, going back to the kitchen. Erin yawned, happy to be leaning into Patty. They both watched as Abby crossed the room and crawled into bed.

“Go on,” said Patty. “I know you’re tired too.”

“You’re too comfortable,” said Erin. Patty chuckled.

“Tomorrow night, you can sleep with me.”

“I think I like that plan,” said Erin, closing her eyes. She heard Holtz laughing a little from the kitchen area. Erin yawned again, but got up and went to get changed. She went and got in the bed beside Abby, who didn’t make a move. Erin figured she was asleep and turned out the side lamp.


	3. Chapter 3

\-----

The next morning, Erin woke up feeling rested. She didn’t remember moving at all during the night. She looked over to see Abby, but she wasn’t in bed. She could see Patty still asleep in the next bed over, but couldn’t see Holtzmann. She looked out to the living room and saw Holtz curled up in Abby’s lap, her head on her shoulder. A cup of coffee sat on the coffee table next to a soda can. Erin lay there and smiled, watching the two of them chatting amicably, their feet intertwined on the couch cushions. It was a cute scene and probably was needed to soothe Abby’s grumpiness. Erin knew Holtzmann had been right, but she couldn’t help but feel Abby’s side of it too. Mostly because she wanted to feel Abby’s side. Holtz had wanted to try things out with Patty, and Abby had encouraged her. She knew Holtz was probably quite encouraging in getting her into their polyamory relationship, but she was probably a little jealous too. It was complicated.  _Very_ complicated.

But Erin was beginning to understand why they were in a relationship together. They fit rather well with one another. Abby and Holtz on the couch were like two pieces of a puzzle. They just worked. She could see why Holtzmann would be a little jealous about adding her to the picture even if she had been the one who had wanted to add Patty.

The smell of coffee was pushing her to get out of bed, which she did with a small groan. She stretched her arms.

“Morning Sleeping Beauty,” said Holtzmann from the couch as Erin went for a coffee cup.

“Morning... God, I can’t even think of a Disney princess for you,” said the redhead, taking a sip of the hot beverage.

“No thanks, but I’ll take Audrey Ramirez,” said Holtz. “Girl was smart.”

“Who?” asked Erin, confused.

“Mechanic in  _Atlantis_ ,” said Abby.

“Oh,” Erin stated, taking another drink. “I’m not sure I ever watched that.”

“We were just finishing up our doctorates,” said Abby. “Probably why.” She patted Holtz’s cheek. “This one was just starting her Master’s and thought she had all the free time in the world.”

“I took a three month nap,” she said proudly.

“So what are the plans for the day?” asked Erin. She tried not to think about how a three month nap sounded really good right about now.

“You’ll have to ask Patty,” said Abby. “She’s got a schedule.”

\-----

“Abby wasn’t kidding about you having a schedule, was she?” stated Erin. She blew her bangs out of her face as they crossed the street.

“Nope,” said Patty. “I figured I had to do something to keep me and Abby occupied when Holtzy was going scuba diving. Didn’t expect you to be coming in her place though.”

“I’m surprised Abby went with Holtz,” said Erin as they sat down at a cafe.

“I think Abby went along to supervise,” said Patty. “With all that equipment Holtzy was taking.”

“She might have needed a second pair of arms,” laughed Erin. Patty grinned, nodding in agreement.

“This is fun, you know,” Erin continued. “Hanging out with you.”

“I like it myself,” said Patty. “It’s a little refreshing to have someone who actually cares about their clothes.”

Erin burst out laughing.

“Okay, that one... yes,” agreed Erin. “I will give you that one.”

“Bowling shoes Erin,” said Patty. “And we’re not even going into those high tops Abby refuses to give up.”

“Believe me, I am aware.”

“But I guess this is why we love them.”

“They are very endearing,” sighed Erin. “They worm their way in.”

“Worm is exactly how I would explain Holtz,” chuckled Patty. “She likes to worm her way into my arms any time she can.”

“She is good at that,” said Erin. “I’ll tell you what. We’ll start small. You distract Abby one day, I’ll switch them out a pair of new ones.”

“Deal,” said Patty. “We can come up with a plan once I figure out where Holtzy stashes her shoes. They’re not in her closet upstairs.”

“We’re here,” said Erin, gesturing to the storefront they were coming up to.

“Perfect,” said Patty. “My Auntie is going to be happy. She loves windchimes and I love finding black owned businesses to support.”

“Oh, I love that they make handmade um... the...” began Erin, but the word wouldn’t come to mind. She had been halfway staring at her friend while she was speaking and couldn’t come up with the name for the item. And apparently, the historian had noticed as she gestured at the table in front of them.

“Those things,” grinned Patty. “You can say that.”

Erin looked sheepish. “I’m not used to losing my thoughts when I’m staring right at something.”

“They’re candles, Erin.”

“Thank you,” said the redhead, feeling ashamed and looking down. Patty laughed and kissed her on the forehead.

“Just for that, I’ll buy you an ocean scented one.”  
  
Erin felt warm from the kiss, blushing a little. It was like receiving kisses from the sun. She followed Patty inside.

\-----

The quick spaghetti dinner with garlic bread and salad had been welcome to all four of them back in the hotel room. They hadn’t made any reservations, and none of them really felt like going out again. And with the bubbly-ness of both Holtz and Abby after their trip under the sea and showing how the equipment had worked well with their waterproof coating, they probably wouldn’t have made it out very far. Erin had been surprised by some of the readings. Maybe ghosts did haunt old wrecks. It was a vein they hadn’t explored yet. Both Holtz and Abby had been gotten some really bad vibes off one particular wreck, which made Erin a little glad she hadn’t gone down herself.

Abby and Holtz were giving a demonstration complete with over the top pantomiming after dinner that had Erin laughing at the two of them in Patty’s shoulder. The beer they were consuming was making her tipsy and happy. It was a feeling that was all-encompassing, which had been something she had thought she had lost till Abby had come back in her life again. Having three great friends was something she truly cherished.

_Maybe they could all be lovers..._

“Aww, aren’t they cute Abby?” teased Holtzmann, nudging her girlfriend in the ribs.

“They are,” she agreed. “I think for once that Erin might just be content.”

“Blasphemy,” said Holtz, waving a hand. “Not our Erin.”

Patty rubbed the side of Erin’s face. “She is though. You’re not hearing the tiny giggles in my ear.”

“I don’t believe it,” scoffed Holtz.

“Oh come here,” said Erin. Holtzmann looked delighted and sat down in Erin’s lap, putting her feet up in Patty’s. Erin wrapped her arms around Holtz and snuggled into her neck.

“I can be happy, you know.”

Holtz tickled Erin’s sides, making her squirm and squeal. Patty started laughing as Erin tried to get away from Holtz’s hands, but couldn’t considering their positions.

“Help!” she said, looking desperately at Abby, who snorted.

“You invited Holtz into your lap. You asked for it.” Erin started kicking Holtz when the blonde reached down and started running her fingers down her legs.

“Okay, I am getting off this couch,” said Patty, jumping up quickly. Holtzmann and Erin collapsed in a pile of squirming limbs and squeals. The historian shook her head, muttering about idiots and settled down at the kitchen table.

“Hey Patty, you want to grab a couple of beers and take a walk on the beach and let the two of them work out this sexual frustration?” asked Abby.

“Nope!” said Patty. “Someone’s got to chaperone. Holtzy is still merchandise too.”

“You make it sound like I’m some sort of predator,” smirked Erin. She had wiggled out of Holtzmann’s grasp and gotten up off the couch. “You should ask Patty about the kisses she gave me today, Abby.”

“Hey now,” said Patty, holding up a finger in protest. “You going to turn on your girl like that?”

“Yep,” said Erin, laughing as she watched Holtzmann wrapped her arms around her best friend. “I’m not letting you get out of this.” She started grinning as she heard Abby squeak.

“Holtz, no!”

The maniacal cackling that came from the engineer’s lips had Abby making for the bathroom. She shut the door quickly on Holtzmann. Holtz beat on it with her fist.

“You’ve got to come out of there sometime Abby!”

“I have water and Erin’s bath pillow!”

“Yes, but I have your phone,” smirked Holtz, holding up the device. They could hear Abby cursing under her breath.

“Let me know when you’ve died from boredom,” said Holtzmann all too sweetly. When she turned around to go back towards the others, there was Scooby Doo right there in her face. She yelped loudly and fell down to the carpet. When Abby stuck her head out the door to see what was happening, there was Erin grinning ear to ear and holding the stuffed animal over Holtz and rubbing it all over her body. She held up the phone proudly and handed it to Abby, who took it and went over to the couch. She grabbed for one of the cold beers.

“Thanks,” she nodded to Erin, who threw the stuffed animal onto one of the beds.

“I can’t believe I let Daphne and Scooby get the better of me,” whimpered Holtz from the floor. She got up on her knees before jumping up the rest of the way.  
  
Erin came over and grabbed one of the beers. “Although I can’t believe I’m saying this since it’s a stuffed animal, but I think I might have to agree with Holtzmann. I think that thing HAS gotten bigger.”

“See?” said Holtzmann. “I’m not crazy. Well, I am, but that’s beside the point. He’s getting  _bigger_.”

“How?” asked Patty. “Like Erin said, he’s a stuffed animal.”

“All the water in the world and no tape measure,” stated Holtz, putting her hands on her hips. She went over and glared at the stuffed dog.

“You, off my bed.” She swiped at him, knocking him off in the floor. It didn’t take for a few seconds for Holtz to curl up under the covers.

“Anybody want to join me?” she said, wiggling her hips under the bedspread. Erin gestured to her drink. Patty pointed to the one next to her there in the kitchen.

“Well, I’m done,” said Abby. She threw the can in the plastic bag they had earmarked for cans so they didn’t take up all the room in the trash. “Holtz, you good?”

“Golden,” she said from beneath the comforter. “I could use my Abby body pillow.”

Erin watched with a tiny bit of jealousy as Abby climbed into bed with Holtzmann, the blonde automatically attached herself to Abby. She had to admit, they would make for cute cuddling pictures on some of those stock photo sites. She turned and looked to Patty, who was using her phone.

“I’m texting with my brother,” she said. “He’s watching football and gets bored during the commercials.”

“Can I talk to you for a minute?” asked Erin. “Maybe a little bit more private?”

“Sure,” said Patty. “Something the matter?” Erin shook her head and motioned for Patty to follow her. They headed out of the room and down the hall towards a sitting area in the middle of the floor where the elevators were.

“No,” said Erin. “I wanted to say sorry, first off.”

“What? For that?” laughed Patty. “Seriously Erin, that was nothing. You should see those two turning on each other every day and telling me what the other one is doing. You’d think they weren’t friends, much less lovers.”

“Children,” mused Erin.

“Pretty much,” agreed Patty with a breathy laugh.

“And the second, I...” began Erin. “After today, I realized something. I really do care about you, Patty.”  
  
“Well, that, I do like to hear,” grinned the historian. “Does this mean you’re going to join us?”

“I’m... I’m still not sure,” said Erin. She made a face. “It’s hard.”

Patty nodded. “It wasn’t an easy decision for me either. I love them both, but I wasn’t looking for a poly relationship. To be honest, I wasn’t looking for a relationship at all... Something just clicked with me and Holtzy. It was just fun with her, you know?”

“I can see that,” said Erin, playing with one of their room key cards. “Abby still after all these years holds my heart. Every time I look at her, it’s like being 15 again.”

“It’s not going to be an easy road if you do choose this,” said Patty. “There’s a lot to discuss and work out... not only with us but the business too. Schedules are a pain.”

“Well, it’s a good thing I love scheduling,” said Erin with an amused smile. “Just... don’t mention anything to the others yet. I kind of want to do this on my own terms.” She took in a deep breath and blew it out. “I’ve got to wrap my head around the whole idea.”

“Completely understandable and you have nothing to worry about from me,” said Patty. She nudged Erin’s shoulder. “Take all the time you need baby. We’ll still be here.” They both got up and started back towards their room.

“Yeah, it’s not we’re going anywhere,” chuckled Erin weakly. “We’re all in the same building.” Patty laughed at that and nodded. Erin handed her the keycard and she inserted it and started in. But when Patty closed the door softly instead of going in, she was confused.

“We might ought to wait a few minutes. It’s a little busy in there.”

When Erin realized what she meant, she started to blush. Patty rubbed her shoulder.

“Let’s go take that walk on the beach.”

\-----

Erin was the first one up the next morning. She put on the coffee and opened the sliding glass windows to let in some fresh air. She could smell the salt and feel the humidity. She closed her eyes for a moment, enjoying the sound of the ocean.

It was nice for a moment, feeling quiet and content.

She turned back around, squinting as she looked at the stuffed Scooby Doo. Something about it seemed off. She was really wondering after the night before if Holtzmann wasn’t right. He did seem bigger than when Abby had first picked him out. She went over to the coffee table where some of their equipment was laid out. Holtzmann had been water and slime proofing their things as of recent, and the scuba diving trip had been majorly helpful in making sure everything worked correctly. Erin picked up the PKE meter and turned it on. She frowned when there was only minimal readings, nothing substantial.

Maybe the sheer size of the Great Dane was just throwing them all for a loop. It was just a stuffed animal after all. The coffee was ready, and Erin was ready to guzzle down more than a few cups. It had been later than she had expected when she and Patty had come back to the room. Holtzmann and Abby were both asleep, still curled up together, although a little less clothed than before. That had been a little strange at first, but all she could see was shoulders. Not that Erin was a prude. She had seen enough of everyone’s skin going in and out of the bathroom. They were all girls, so it wasn’t like they had to be bashful. Okay, maybe _she_  had.

And it wasn’t like Patty and Holtz didn’t wear tank tops and shorts and such to sleep in. Erin looked over and saw the thin pink strap falling off Patty’s shoulder. She smiled a little to herself as she poured a cup of the dark brew and added sugar and a little chocolate creamer they had brought along.

They were cute, really. All still asleep, dreaming of God knows what. Erin hoped their dreams were pleasant. After everything with Rowan, both Holtzmann and Abby had recurring nightmares. She had suspected Patty had some too, but she hadn’t mentioned them. Even Kevin had flashes of memories of when the bastard had taken over his body. She took a sip of the coffee, enjoying the chocolate flavor. She chuckled lightly when she heard Holtzmann whimper and cuddle tightly to Abby. It really was endearing to see. Holtz always had that front about her, keeping people at bay by putting up an act. Whether it was being extremely goofy or weird, it helped her create a space where she felt comfortable. And it was moments like this where it was just her, there was a bit of a vulnerability about it that made Erin wonder if the three people in the room beside her were the only ones to see it.

“Do you often watch people sleep?” asked Abby from the bed. The question startled Erin out of her reverie and the  _smirk_ on her best friend’s face was enough that Erin wanted to bite back.

A playful bite, at least.

“No, but everyone is cute asleep,” said Erin, sipping on her coffee. Abby went to sit up to say something else, but she realized her state of undress and just sighed. Now it was Erin’s turn to smirk.

“Would you like for me to hand you your clothes? You and Holtz kind of threw them everywhere last night.”

“Please,” muttered Abby. Erin carefully picked up the garments and handed them to Abby, who quickly dressed underneath the comforter.

“I know, that was stupid and...”

“Nothing wrong,” said Erin with a shrug. “You and Holtz had fun. Patty and I talked for a while. It was nice to go for a late night walk.”

“You and Patty getting along really well then huh?” said Abby, getting up and going over to the coffee pot.

“She’s so loving and gentle,” said Erin with a smile. “I like that.”

“It is lovely,” agreed Abby. “I love any time we can just spend cuddling.”

Erin flashbacked briefly to when she had spent time with Patty reading (and kissing), realizing she had been right. She had been intruding.

Not that Abby and Patty had cared.

The number three repeated in Erin’s head. It was still a hard concept to wrap around.

“I’m sure,” she managed to say. Erin decided to change the subject.

“So what are the plans for the day?”

\-----

Erin was glad it was another beach day. She didn’t know if she could handle any more of the walking as she had with Patty the day before. They had even managed to convince Abby to stay in just her swimsuit, although Erin was pretty sure Holtzmann had used half of the bottle of sunblock on Abby’s back and thighs on purpose just to tease her.

And it was also apparently the day she took to noticing everyone’s hands. Holtzmann’s, in particular, were all over the place. Whether she was into everything in their picnic lunch to pulling on Patty in the water to the aforementioned rub down, Erin couldn’t help but notice Holtz’s fingers. They seem to live their own lives.

“I am falling in love with all of them,” muttered Erin to herself as she fanned her face with the book she had brought with her to read.

“Hmm?” said Abby, looking up. They had pulled their beach chairs together again, along with the umbrellas to make a bit of a shade fort. Holtzmann had even used a couple of the beach towels to expand coverage.

“Nothing,” said Erin quickly. “Just thinking.”

Abby nodded, silence once again settling between them. The sun was high above them, shining down brightly. Erin thought it was shining down a spotlight on her for the decision she had made. It was trying to tell her that she needed to admit it out loud to the world. She watched Holtzmann coming back onto the shore with a sigh. The blonde engineer, Erin had to admit, was the hardest of the bunch. Holtz was in no way ever her idea of a partner. She always had a way to get under Erin’s skin and irritate her. She had basically spent their earliest days together making sure she remained on the edge no matter the circumstances, which made sense in hindsight. Holtz had a slight vicious streak because she had heard the story from Abby about how Erin had hurt her deeply. And really, Erin couldn’t blame her. She probably would be in the same mindset if the situation had been reversed.

The physicist remembered the conversation she had with Holtz in the lab about jealousy and how much things had changed since then.

Holtz was cute, Erin mused. The engineer made her way over to them, grinning as she dropped down between her and Abby and wiggled her way up. She gave Erin a wet kiss on the cheek.

“Wanna come be my mermaid?”

“If you mean you’re going to hold both my legs together when I try to swim away from you splashing me, no thank you,” said Erin primly. “You already did that once.”  
  
Holtz pouted and leaned into Abby, who automatically pushed Holtz away.

“You smell like a wet seal.” Erin laughed at the barking noise and Holtzmann clapping her hands together like they were fins.

“You’re just out of luck today Holtzy,” said Patty, walking up. “Ain’t nobody going to fall for that.”

“Maybe I should go find me some new ones to play with,” said Holtz. Her eyes lit upon a group of teenager girls. “Ah, I found my new tribe.”

“You do and you’ll be sleeping in a jail cell,” Abby said, looking at Holtzmann sideways.

“Wouldn’t be the first time,” winked Holtz to Erin. “Has Abby ever told you about the time we ended up sitting overnight in lockup?”

Abby groaned at that, covering her head with her hands. Both Patty and Erin started laughing.

“What did you two do?” asked Erin. She gave her best friend a curious look.

“Supposed breaking and entering,” said Abby. “We accidentally walked on some private property following some weird readings. The owner just happened to be there. He tried to blame us for some broken windows and stuff. It was an 80 year old building. The windows had been broke for decades.”

“What happened?” asked Erin.

“Nothing,” shrugged Holtz. “He finally admitted to making the whole thing up.”

“So you spent the night in lockup for nothing,” said Patty.

“We met a really cute biker chick,” said Holtz. “Abby’s got her friended on her Facebook. Her name was Sharona.”

“Did they do anything to the guy for lying to the police?” Holtz shrugged at Erin’s question.

“We didn’t stick around to ask.”

“Was Sharona really cute?” asked Patty.

“Adorable, but she was arrested for drug trafficking,” responded Abby.

“Pharmaceuticals or the illegal kind?”

“She was growing marijuana,” grinned Holtz. “And they caught her taking her product out to market.”

“She said it was a fantastic side job,” nodded Abby.

Erin just shook her head while Patty laughed.

“Sounds like you two had an interesting time.”  
  
“Yes, but it was nothing like  _Orange is the New Black_ ,” sighed Holtz loudly, making a face.

“I would hope not, considering you were just in holding,” said Erin. She smiled a little at the engineer pretending to pout. But her body’s own wishes were soon known as her stomach growled loudly. Abby laughed at the noise.

“I think Erin’s belly would like to be holding something,” grinned Patty. “I think lunch is in order.”

\-----

That night, after all was said and done, Abby had grabbed Patty and had declared her hers for the rest of the night. Erin was relieved when all it turned out to bed was the two of them turning in early. Holtz and Erin went to scope out the gift shop in the hotel for anything interesting and had gotten some drinks at the cash bar. Holtz had started up a conversation with a bartender. Erin had listened as they got chummy for a bit. It was actually sort of fun to see Holtzmann interacting. It was one thing that she didn’t see much of on her own. It was all an act. She made up random factoids about herself just to get the other party to listen. Erin noticed she got a lot of free drinks that way. She sipped on her Red Russian, feeling tipsy and warm. She smiled when Holtz wrapped her arm around her.

“I think I’m about ready to take you home for the night,” grinned the blonde.

“You going to hold me till you see the light?” Holtz snorted at Erin’s retort.

“I’ll take that one even though you messed up the lyrics.” She held out a hand and Erin got off the stool. “The fact that you know Eddie Money is worth it.”

Erin eyed her, trying not to be sarcastic. “Really Holtz? I do know music.”

“Homemade tapes of yourself singing?”

“I was a teenager! I couldn’t afford to buy CD’s!”

“It was just an excuse to listen to your narcissistic blowhard self.” Erin pushed Holtzmann hard on the shoulder for that one as the blonde cackled madly.

“I love you,” she crooned to Erin as they headed towards the elevator.

“You just keep thinking that,” the redhead said with a smile as she fondly tweaked Holtz’s cheek. She pulled out her keycard and opened the door. It was quiet in the hotel room and the lights were off.

“They really did just go to sleep,” said Holtz, placing her glasses on the side table next to one of the beds.

“Figured they’d have sex once we left them?”

“Something like that,” said Holtzmann. She flopped down on the bed once she had removed all her clothing except for a pair of boxers. She pulled a tank top over her head and shimmed under the covers. Erin headed for the bathroom, preferring to scrub some of the cherry off her teeth first. She came back out slightly more refreshed. She climbed into bed with Holtzmann, glad that they only had a little more time here at the beach. Not that she didn’t like everything there, but she would be glad to be back in her own bed at the firehouse. She was missing her alone time a little. She curled up with her back to Holtzmann and closed her eyes.

Holtz was snoring when Abby rubbed her girlfriend’s arm.

“They’re asleep,” she whispered softly to Patty. “Come on.” Patty grinned in the darkness, throwing back the covers.  
  
\-----

Erin thought she was floating in the air. Sometimes her dreams gave her weird sensations as her brain tried to interpret them, but this was a bit odd. She wasn’t even dreaming that she was flying. It was nice though. Holtzmann had been very warm beside her and this was a nice cool breeze. It was almost like a--

Cold, very cold wind!

The very panicked yelp that came from beside her made Erin open her eyes.

_Ice._

_Ice everywhere._

The whole entire space around her was filled with ice cubes. It was then she noticed the bed sheets and blankets were rigged to the ceiling over the bed frame which was about three to five inches underneath them. And it was no wonder she felt a breeze. An industrial-sized fan was blowing right at the bedding.

It was then she heard the cackle and all-out guffaw from Abby and Patty. Her temper started to flare, but then she couldn’t help but notice Holtzmann struggling to no avail. They were literally hanging cheek to cheek in a hammock of ice.

“Abigail Leslie Yates, I’m going to get your ass for this!”

“Oh bite me, Holtzmann,” said Abby, scoffing. “You just can’t take being one-upped.”

The low growl made Erin chuckle a bit under her breath. She tried to ignore the glare coming from her hammock partner at her. “This is cold Abby,” she whined.

“This is what you two get for dumping me in the ocean,” said Abby. The redhead arched her neck a little to peer out. She saw Patty grinning with her camera and Abby standing with her arms crossed and glaring at her.

“Though how you two didn’t notice I had changed out the sheets is beyond me.”

“We were drunk,” whimpered Holtzmann as she threw an ice cube out of the hammock in what she hoped was Abby’s direction. It never reached its target.

“A poor excuse,” said Patty. She nudged Abby on the shoulder. “Come on, let’s go back to our nice warm bed and let the two penguins sort themselves out.”

“Ah yes, revenge is a dish best served cold,” grinned Abby. “Good night ladies!”

Erin tried to move on her own, but it was useless. She and Holtz were going to have to work together to get out of this mess, She was afraid of what was going to happen when it started melting.

“Where did they even find this much ice?”

“Ice machines on every floor and a few in the kitchens and the dining area,” said Holtz automatically. “Probably emptied them all out. I would have.”

“We’ve gotta get out of here before this stuff starts melting,” said Erin with a sigh.

“Tarp,” said Holtzmann. “Bed’s protected at least.” She looked over to Erin, smirking. “Wanna have sex and melt it all?”

The shove that Erin gave Holtz had enough energy that it resulted in the sheets pulling loose from the rigging, sending them both crashing down onto the blue tarp covered bed beneath them, ice and all. Holtz shot up quickly and grabbed for her clothes, shivering as she slammed a leg into her pants. Erin got up and gathered an armful of ice and headed for the other bed in the space, where both Patty and Abby were practically rolling on the bed in laughter. She quickly shoved the whole entire mess down the waistband of Abby’s pants, who gave a yelp at the sudden cold. Erin gave an evil glare at Patty, gesturing that she would do the same. Patty made a cross in the air towards the redhead. Erin rolled her eyes.

“This-- this is not over,” said Holtzmann, coming over and pointing at Abby, who was struggling out of her pajama pants. She gave Holtz the middle finger for the statement and Erin one for the cold pants.

\-----

It took forever to clean up all the ice and dump it into the bathtub to melt. Patty had at least agreed to help, but Abby had laid there and grinned as they got everything right again. And they had even managed to get a little sleep once the proper sheets were back on the bed. By the time the pair had awoken, they had realized Patty and Abby had let them sleep in. They dressed quickly and headed down for breakfast. Holtzmann was starving and automatically headed for the hashbrowns and grits for her carb overload. She glared at Abby as she sat down at the table where she and Patty were sitting. Abby was grinning as she tried to hand her an iced coffee as if to add insult to injury. She narrowed her eyes at the drink and didn’t take it. Holtzmann, however, had sat down with her plate full of food and grabbed both the one for her and Erin’s and started to guzzle them down between bites of bacon.

“She is planning something already,” said Patty to Erin.

“Probably,” smiled Erin. She stole a piece of toast off of Abby’s plate and nibbled on it as she enjoyed the warm sunshine coming in through the large windows of the dining room. She could see the ocean’s waves as they hit the shoreline. It was a beautiful spot to take in the scenery.

“It was a good trick though.”

“All Abby,” said Patty, gesturing to where Abby was standing by one of the breakfast bars getting more food. “Although I was the one who charmed housekeeping for the fan.”

The smell of hot waffles hit Erin’s nose as Abby came back to the table.

“Go get something to eat,” said Patty. “You like the sugared grapes.”

“I could use a sweet snack,” nodded Erin.

“Get real food,” said Abby, pointing a butter knife at her. “You need calories.”

“I will get real food AND the grapes,” quipped back Erin.

“Good,” responded Abby. “Because we need all the energy to get through today.”

“Great,” said Erin smiling. It was then she realized she didn’t know what they were doing. “And what’s today?”

\-----

“Abby, I still can’t believe you seriously booked us _five_  ghostbusting missions on the last day of our trip???” said an exasperated Erin after the third one. Patty was sitting tiredly on the sidewalk while Holtz was laying down and moaning about her feet. The last spectre had heated the floor, and unfortunately, Holtzmann had been the first to the room.

Abby looked sheepish, giving Erin a pleading gesture. She sighed.

“I get it. We wouldn’t want to do it any other time.” The redhead knew she was right. They would have wanted to spend their time having fun, not hunting ghosts for profit.

Holtz groaned and kicked her feet to cool them off. “I knew I should have played more of the ‘the floor is lava!’ game when I was younger.”

“We’ll work on an obstacle course when we get home just for that purpose,” said Abby, trying not to sound too grumpy. “And yes Erin, that was my thought. And I figure this way we can sleep in till check out time at noon.”

“It helped pay for our trip,” offered Patty.

Erin crossed her arms but said nothing. Abby sighed.

“Maybe 5 was too much in one day.”

“You think?” said Patty sarcastically, even though she was the one who helped book them. Abby stuck her tongue out at her before grimacing at the time on her phone.

“We need to get going. It’s just two more.” Erin’s shoulders slumped.

“Well, we have gotten some good work done for the people around here,” said Erin, giving in. “That museum was happy to get rid of that apparition that was disturbing their guests.”

“True,” Patty agreed. “And they did let me have those old maps and journals.”

“Burnt feet!” cried out Holtz dramatically.

“You’ve got aloe and those cooling gel pads,” said Abby to her lover. “We’ll get you some pain patches on the way back to the hotel to sleep in.”

“So what is the fourth one?” asked Erin.

“Animal spectres in an old warehouse,” said Patty. She pulled out a small notebook. “Weak ones though. They don’t seem to bother anyone or anything.”

“Easy enough then,” said Erin. She went over and helped Holtzmann to her feet as Patty and Abby picked up their packs.

“I’ll get you some ice later,” teased Patty to Holtz.

“You’re all driving tomorrow,” whimpered the engineer.

“Good,” said Erin as they started back towards the car. “Maybe now we can make it back to New York all in one piece.”

\-----

After the last ghosts were stored in the mini-containment unit in the back of the Ecto-1, the Ghostbusters were all ready for food and sleep. They had already decided just to grab dinner at the hotel and have a few drinks at the bar.

Erin was just happy to be out of her jumpsuit and into a t-shirt and shorts. Patty had done the same, although her outfit was a lot shorter and brighter than Erin’s. Holtz had opted for a pair of colorful harem pants and a button-down that she must have plundered from someone’s Hawaiian shirt collection. It was tropical and wild to the point that Erin wasn’t sure if they were at the beach in the Carolinas or Hawaii.

She did feel a little better at seeing Abby’s blue button down and jeans. At least she wasn’t the only muted tone one of the group.

“I’m going to miss the beach,” said Erin, sighing.

“We have beaches in New York,” Patty reminded her gently. Erin waved her hand.

“Yes, but I can’t exactly walk out of my door and get to them.”

“I could rig something up on the roof,” said Holtz, thinking. “Maybe one big sandbox.”

“No,” they all three said in unison. Holtz huffed, poking out her lips.

That was when they heard a beeping.

“That sounds like one of the PKE meters,” said Abby, looking around.

“Didn’t we lock up all that stuff in the car?” Patty asked, frowning a little.

“Oops,” said Holtz, going over to her backpack. She pulled out one of the devices. “I must have accidentally packed it when I was gathering up my stuff.”

“But why is it beeping?” asked Erin. “The battery low in it or something?”

“No, I just charged up everything,” said Holtzmann, looking at it. “It couldn’t have gone dead that fast. Let me run some diagnostics, I--”

“Uh... guys,” said Abby. She sounded a little worried as she spoke softer than before. “I don’t think we are alone.”

Erin turned and looked to where Abby was staring. Her heart started racing as she saw what was the matter. Abby’s newly acquired Scooby Doo was floating about six inches off the ground.

And  _glowing_.

“I knew there was something the matter with that thing!” exclaimed Holtz. The PKE meter was spinning like mad in her hands.

Then the large toy started to growl, which was unnerving since the mouth of the stuffed toy was only stitched on.

“ _Scooby Dooby Doo, where are you? I need some help from you now!_ ” yelped Holtz as the device flew out of her hands and onto the floor, still spinning. Her singing voice was a little sketchy as they all four started backing up. The eerie green glow grew louder in color, making the room seem dark in comparison.

“We’ve gotta get out of here and down to the packs,” said Abby quickly.

“Maybe it’s ben--” said Erin, but it suddenly showed that was not that case as it charged Patty. She and Holtz quickly ducked to get out of its path.

“It’s not benign anything!” yelled back Abby. They scattered, slamming open the door of their hotel room. Holtzmann ran for the stairway, opening it wide. She was not about to trust an elevator with a malicious ghost on the loose.

The others were not far behind as they beat feet down the stairs. Erin took a quick peek behind them. The ghostly Scooby Doo had taken the bait was following them down, diving to try to get ahead of them.

“Who would have ever thought that Scooby Doo would turn out to be the villain???” yelled Holtzmann back to the others as she went through the door to the lobby. Erin, Patty, and Abby turned quickly to face off with the ghost, holding their hands up in weak protection. The Scooby plush rushed at them, and they all ducked quickly, not being able to do much without their weapons.

This was definitely not a friendly ghost.

The hotel staff and a few guests lounging in the lobby looked on in confusion before Patty yelled to get their asses out of the way. One lady even screamed bloody murder when it tried to take a swipe at her with one of its plush paws.

“Grab it!” yelled Abby, gesturing. Patty barrelled towards it and grabbed one of the large feet of the stuffed animal. But the ghost wasn’t having it, and did everything to shake Patty off. Even at her height, her own feet were soon dangling off the floor. Erin and Holtzmann made a grab for Patty’s legs and they were soon rolling on the carpeted floor after pulling her down. Abby picked up a metal sign pointing guests towards the elevators and swung it at the ghost. She missed, but it took the ghost’s attention off her friend and girlfriends.

“Try and get me!” yelled Abby, swinging again. This time she connected with felt and sent it reeling. Ectoplasm went everywhere, soaking the carpets, plants, and surrounding furniture with the slime.

Thankfully Erin, Holtz, and Patty knew what was coming and had hidden their faces.

The plush growled, a huge wave of various colors coming off of it connecting with everything in the room that wasn’t human.

The lobby exploded, leaving the room shaking.

“That had to wear him out a bit,” mumbled Patty as she got up. Erin nodded, grimacing at the slime she felt on the back of her shirt. But she didn’t have time to think about slime and cracks as the ghost flew back at Abby after her taunting. She quickly threw the sign to Holtz, who sprinted for the broken front door.

“We’ve got to get it outdoors before it makes a bigger mess,” commented Patty. The other two nodded, Erin, grimacing.

“This one has a lot of pent-up energy for a ghost,” she said.

“Which we don’t need being spent on Holtz. Come on,” said Abby. They quickly took the same path Holtz had and found their friend swinging wildly at the ghost in question, which was growing bigger by the second. All the people who had been walking by or to the hotel were scattering quickly, screams and yelps piercing the air. None of the team could blame them for freaking out about a glowing, multicolored, almost disco ball like Scooby Doo.

“Get the packs!” yelled Holtzmann, trying to keep from falling down into the mixture of sand and grass in the North Carolina night air. Patty ran over to help her as Erin and Abby headed for the Ecto-1. They quickly pulled out all four, taking precious seconds to put on their own before going back over to the others.

They came back and found a now 30 feet tall Scooby Doo standing on the lawn of the hotel.

“Oh great, another tall one,” groaned Erin as she threw a trap to Holtzmann before handing a pack to Patty.

“Try and minimize the damage to the area, okay ladies?” said Abby as she aimed her beam right at the chest of the now very large stuffed animal. Erin soon added her own to the mix as the other two scrambled to get on their proton packs.

“I’m so sorry, Shaggy,” sang Holtz as she put on her pack. “But I’m going to have to kill your dog now!!!”

“Stop antagonizing it with your singing!!!” yelped Patty as it took a swipe at them with a loud roar.

“And that thing is NOT Scooby!” yelled Erin as she upped the power on her beam. They were getting nowhere with the dog.

“No, it's just a cowardly ghost who has a weird attachment to synthetic stuffing,” huffed Abby as she did the same to her own beam. She started moving away from the others, trying to space out their beams to maximize coverage. The others did the same, struggling with the ghost.

It was working, but barely. The ghost was snarling, not liking that it was being pulled towards them. The ground started to shake as it dug into the earth, sending them flying. Car alarms were soon blaring and cracks began to appear in the ground around them.

“We can get him guys!” said Erin as they regrouped and turned up the power on their proton streams even more. She was trying to bolster the feelings of her friends as the ghost was starting to pull on the beams. Abby and Holtz’s feet were starting to be pulled towards him, much like being on the losing side of a game of tug of war.

“We’re gals!!!” yelled Holtzmann over the noise.

“Damn straight!!!” responded Patty.  
  
“That’s something we’re not either!!!” yelled back Holtzmann.

“Turn the packs up to 9!!!” said Abby loudly over them both. The shaking had gotten worse, but they knew the ghost was losing strength as they were starting to get the upper hand. The proton streams were sapping his energy quickly.

With flashes of light, lots of whimpering and feeble roars, they slowly managed to bring the ghost closer to the trap. They all yelped loudly when it let out one last blast of ectoplasm, soaking the entire area around them. One last struggling pull and they were left with a smoking trap on the sand.

They all four hit their knees, but Holtz went even further and laid down on the sand and grass with a groan.

“Well, that’s one way to end our vacation,” said Erin as she sat down, taking off her pack. Patty reached over and picked up the smoking trap.

“That was one pissed off plushie.”

“Wouldn’t you be if you had been rebooted at least 15 times?” said Holtz, muffled in the sand.

“I don’t think that was the reason,” said Abby, rolling her eyes. “But we’re not going to have any real answers till we get back home and can study it.” She sighed and started to stand, stretching her arms with a grimace.

“We’d better be getting up. I’m sure the hotel managers will probably be wanting an explanation, not to mention the city.”

Erin nodded in agreement, cracking her neck after standing up.

“You don’t think ‘those meddling kids’ will suffice?” Abby scoffed and punched her best friend in the shoulder while Holtz and Patty guffawed.

\-----

The next morning, the hotel lobby was full of maintenance men and women still trying to righten what had gone to pieces. The hotel had taken it as well as could be expected. They all had neglected to mention that the plush Scooby Doo had been theirs in the first place. The management had been grateful that they had gotten the ghost out of the hotel before it had done even more damage to the place. Luckily, the building had not taken physical harm other than cosmetic and there were only minor injuries.

The team opted for the breakfast buffet in the hotel to try and avoid the flurry of cameras and reporters waiting outside. Patty looked at the group with a groan.

“You know how I love and loathe the press?”

Erin picked over her fresh fruit with a nod. She was just glad the hotel had made a press release that morning so they wouldn’t have to give much in the way of details, not to mention they let them stay on for the night.

“At least their questions should be simple.”

“Probably wondering why these damn Yankees called the Ghostbusters just happened to be in the hotel at the time of the ghost sighting,” said Abby offhandedly.

“I’m sure they’ll come up with some sort of conspiracy,” said Patty, taking a drink of her tea. There was a small cough behind them, and the Ghostbusters looked up to see an employee holding a rather large plastic bag... with an ectoplasm covered Scooby Doo plush inside.

“I’m assuming you will get rid of this for us?” he said, looking appalled that he was even holding the thing.

“We’ll take it as evidence,” said Holtz quickly, jumping up and grabbing it with a grin. “We’ll need to cut it open, run some tests...”

“I don’t want to know,” he said, putting up a hand and looking disgusted. He hurried away.

“Well, I guess Scooby will live on after all,” laughed Erin. Abby just groaned.

\-----

It took a couple of weeks for them to settle back into their normal routine after their trip. There was more than a few lingering looks between the four of them. But Erin wasn’t ready. Not just yet. The moment didn’t feel right.

She pondered this for a few days. Three was still a rather formidable number.

“The boardwalk finally got back to us...” said Abby as she got up to the rooftop. Erin was standing next to the ledge, looking out over the city. Night time in New York was always one of her favorite things, and she loved that the firehouse had such a good view.

“And not surprisingly, they do have a good many children’s deaths that have happened on their grounds,” continued Erin’s best friend. “Mostly accidental drownings, but there is also a children’s hospital not that far away. Parents bring their kids across the street for a walk and-- well, you get the picture.”

Erin grimaced at that, but she hoped the kids at least died peacefully getting to see something fun and colorful instead of the beige or grey walls of a hospital.

“So it’s very well possible we have captured the ghost of a sick child that may not have moved on.”

“There was no recorded deaths with anything having to do with Scooby Doo if that’s what you're wondering.”

Erin shook her head lightly. “I wasn’t, but now I’m wondering if there were any deaths having to do with a dog. Maybe he was just holding onto the memory of a beloved pet.”

“Patty’s going to cross-check with the children’s hospital,” shrugged Abby. She came over to the ledge with Erin.

“It’s a beautiful night tonight,” commented the redhead.

“It is,” agreed Abby. “It’d be great for--”

“Rooftop party!” yelled Holtz as she came up the stairs to the roof. She pointed to the cooler in her hand. “I’ve got the beers, Patty’s getting the burgers.”

“We need a grill up here,” commented Abby. “So we could do our own.”

“Against building regulations,” said Erin automatically. “City orders against large open flames not in a scientific setting.” Abby made a non-committal grunt.

“What they don't know won’t hurt them,” said Holtz, loftily. She threw down a blanket and put the cooler on it.

“We got the idea of taking a break for dinner up here. Figured it was better than eating on the couch.”

“There wasn’t anything on anyways,” said Abby. “And we’ve already watched all of  _Stranger Things_.”

“Damn Netflix,” said Patty. “I have  _questions_.” She got up on the roof and sat down the bags of burgers and fries. Holtz broke open the cooler and put down some large flameless candles that only added to the weird ambiance of being out on the roof. It was insanity, but she watched Abby and Patty sit down and start distributing drinks and food for the four of them.

Suddenly three morphed into four, and something clicked in her brain.

“Hey girls?” said Erin, making them all look at her. “I propose a toast.”

Holtzmann reached down for a beer from the blanket and stood beside Erin as the other two held up their bottles.

“What are we toasting?” asked Patty, smiling at Erin, who smiled back.

“This,” said Erin. She grabbed Holtz, pulled her close, and kissed the hell out of her friend. The whoops of joy and clinking of bottles made her grin. She pulled back.

“About damn time,” said Patty, the biggest grin on her face. Abby was chuckling into her beer.

Holtz however, was still in shock. She hadn’t moved since Erin had pulled on her clothes. Abby gestured with her hands to Erin.

“Hurry up and get down here so we can eat her burger and fries before she recovers.”

“THAT WAS NOT FAIR!!!” Holtz exclaimed, coming back to reality at the sound of people conspiring to eat her burger and fries.

“Yes it was,” grinned Erin as Holtz quickly turned around and sat down on the blanket with the others before anyone could touch her food.

“Definitely,” agreed Abby, grabbing for Erin’s hand, who kissed her fingers gently.

“Did you get churros?” asked Holtz. “Because I think I'm going to need sugar.”

“I think we all need sugar after those busts today,” said Patty. Erin laid her head on Abby’s shoulder and nibbled on her burger as she watched Holtz and Patty sniping at each other in their usual cute banter over the day’s events. It was just the four of them in a circle surrounded by the New York skyline eating dinner and drinking beers.

And Erin couldn’t think of anything more beautiful.


End file.
